For decades, gun owners have warned that beneath the polished slogans of “common sense reform” and the endless wordplay of “safety initiatives” lies the true endgame of the anti-gun movement: disarmament. Rarely do advocates of sweeping gun control abandon the semantics and euphemisms long enough to admit their real intentions. But when they do, it’s worth listening carefully. Because in their own words, they reveal what they have denied all along.
Mike Spies and The Trace: Bloomberg’s Propaganda Arm
Mike Spies, a writer for The Trace, recently made that admission. For those unfamiliar, The Trace is the anti-gun media venture created and bankrolled by billionaire Michael Bloomberg—because apparently the constant barrage of anti-gun messaging from virtually every mainstream outlet wasn’t enough. Bloomberg’s pet project, launched ten years ago, masquerades as “independent journalism,” but in reality, it is little more than a propaganda machine.
As the NRA-ILA has documented, The Trace’s entire mission has been to amplify anti-gun narratives while attempting to cloak itself in the respectability of journalism. Spies is one of its most prominent voices, often collaborating with major outlets like MSNBC to extend his reach under the guise of a “journalist.”
“Too Many Firearms” — The Quiet Part Out Loud
During a recent roundtable on MSNBC with host Katy Tur, Spies decided to drop the act. “You have to be honest and say what will actually work, which is what nobody wants to hear, which is that there are just simply way too many firearms,” Spies said.
His “solution”? Look to countries like Australia and across Europe—nations with no constitutional right to bear arms and where gun bans and confiscations are celebrated as success stories. Tur chimed in, adding that guns in America are “too powerful.” Spies eagerly agreed: “And they’re too powerful, even handguns, too.”
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about “reasonable restrictions.” This is about banning entire classes of firearms, including the most common and constitutionally protected of them all—handguns.
Australia’s Example: Confiscation by Another Name
Spies’s preferred model, Australia, implemented its infamous National Firearms Agreement in 1996. Nearly 700,000 firearms were turned in under a mandatory confiscation program disguised as a “buyback.” The choice for citizens was simple: hand over your property for compensation, or face seizure and prison.
Australia hasn’t slowed down since. As of January 2025, over 52,000 more firearms had been surrendered under new waves of restrictions. Last year, the government rolled out “Australia’s toughest firearms laws,” including:
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Harsher licensing restrictions and prohibitions
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Limits on the number of guns an individual may own
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Mandatory health evaluations and training
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Strict storage requirements
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A “proper reason” test for ownership—self-defense never qualifies
This is the blueprint Spies believes America should adopt.
Ignoring the Constitution
When pressed on whether America’s Constitution poses a roadblock to his scheme, Spies brushed it off. He claims the Second Amendment is “fluid” and that the idea of an individual right to keep and bear arms is “basically a new idea.”
This is historical revisionism of the highest order. From the Founding era onward, the Second Amendment was recognized as protecting the rights of individuals, not governments. The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed this:
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District of Columbia v. Heller (2008): The Court held the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms.
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McDonald v. Chicago (2010): The Court incorporated that right against state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment.
Spies’s “fluid” reading is nothing more than an activist’s wishful thinking, not legal reality.
Propaganda, Not Journalism
At the end of the day, Mike Spies is not a journalist—he’s an activist in journalist’s clothing. His role is not to inform the public but to push Bloomberg’s agenda, stigmatize gun owners, and undermine the Second Amendment through coordinated media campaigns.
When he slips and says what he really believes—that the solution is confiscation and prohibition—gun owners should pay attention. This is the future that anti-gunners envision. Not “safety,” not “common sense,” but the elimination of your rights.
It’s the purest form of gun control—and it’s exactly what we’ve been warning about for decades.
