Speaking to the Aspen Institute on February 6, Michael Bloomberg said cities should ban young minority males from owning guns, both as an effort to reduce crime and to keep those minority males “alive.”

According to The Aspen Times, Bloomberg addressed a variety of topics, and after commenting on poverty and education, he discussed guns. The Times reported that he said, “Cities need to get guns out of [the] … hands” of persons who are “male, minority, and between the ages of 15 and 25.”

He claimed that “95 percent of all murders fall into this category” and that taking guns away from them will not only reduce crime, but will “keep them alive.”

Bloomberg said male minorities from the ages of 15 to 25 do not have a good outlook on life and “think they’re going to get killed anyway because all their friends are getting killed.” He also said having a gun “is a joke” for them, that “it’s a joke to pull the trigger.”