President Obama met with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg Wednesday to discuss gun violence in America, the White House said in a statement.
The two “discussed ways to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have access to them and what more could be done at the state and local level to help address gun violence in America,” according to the statement. The president also thanked Bloomberg for his commitment to the gun control fight.
Bloomberg, a longtime anti-gun advocate, is co-founder of the gun-control group Everytown for Gun Safety.
White House adviser Valerie Jarrett also attended the meeting. She has played a prominent role in leading the White House’s efforts to finalize an executive action to expand background checks on gun purchases.
The meeting was not included on the president’s public schedule for Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the president spoke with former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband Mark Kelly, to discuss gun control in another unannounced meeting. Giffords is a survivor of a gunshot to the head during a mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., in 2011, and has become a prominent gun control advocate.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the president also expressed his gratitude to Bloomberg for his contribution at the United Nations’ climate conference in Paris, where nearly 200 countries reached an agreement vowing to curb global warming. Bloomberg served as the U.N. secretary-general’s special envoy for cities and climate change.
