Posted on 01/09/2006 8:37:49 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
Mike gunnin' for NRA
His fortune could provide real ammo in tough battle
BY DAVID SALTONSTALL
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
Mayor Bloomberg is getting ready to spend his political capital - and quite possibly his own cash - to try to stop the flow of illegal handguns into New York from other states.
Bloomberg has been mostly mum on how he plans to wage his long-shot crusade, other than to say he hopes to build a coalition of big city mayors at the outset. Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles - all of which have seen increases in gun violence in recent years - are considered likely allies.
But the biggest wild card, experts say, is whether and to what degree Bloomberg chooses to use his fortune, estimated at $6 billion, to battle the National Rifle Association.
"I think money could make a huge difference," said Zach Ragbourn, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "If you get into a shouting match with the gun industry, you better have a big bullhorn - and that's the kind of thing money can buy."
The Brady Campaign became the No.1 lobbyist for handgun control in the United States by spending $238,000 to sway Congress since 2002. By comparison, the NRA has spent about $6.5 million since 2002 on lobbying Congress, federal filings show.
Both sums pale in comparison to the $80million Bloomberg spent this year on his own reelection, or even the $7.5million he spent to promote a single ballot question in the city in 2003.
"The mayor is looking at every resource at his disposal," said Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler, while declining to comment on whether the mayor will personally finance his bid to stop the spread of illegal guns.
If Bloomberg wants to glimpse the steep political hill he faces in trying to persuade red state America to be more like New York, he should visit Virginia's state capitol a week from tomorrow.
That's Lobby Day for the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a group that plans to bring scores of followers - all of them packing pistols - into the state General Assembly building to jawbone with legislators, many of whom favor a pro-gun agenda.
"I can guarantee a very safe room for Mayor Bloomberg if he decides to join us," chuckled Mike Stollenwerk, a member of the Virginia pro-gun group. "It'll be ideologically hostile, but otherwise a very polite forum for him and his security detail - although they'll probably be outgunned."
To say gun-rights advocates are aiming for Bloomberg - and vice versa - is an understatement.
Since the mayor announced in his inaugural address that he would fight for greater handgun controls in "every capital of every state that permits guns to flow freely across its borders," his words have echoed through Web site chat rooms both for and against handgun control.
A Daily News comparison of state laws shows New York's gun laws - and New York City's in particular - are among the most restrictive in the nation.
But even as New York has stiffened penalties for many gun crimes, the pro-gun tide has been rising, both in the Republican-controlled Congress and in conservative states like Virginia.
In 2004, for instance, Virginia's Democratic Gov. Mark Warner signed a bill stripping towns of the right to enforce stricter requirements than the state when it comes to issuing permits to carry a concealed gun.
The result is a state where no permit at all is now required to openly carry a gun, and where buying a firearm is basically as simple as buying a six-pack of beer, provided you don't have a criminal record.
It may also help to explain why 12% of all handguns used to commit crimes in New York City in the first half of 2005 were bought in Virginia - the most of any state, NYPD records show.
"Virginia is liberal in gun ownership, but our crime rate is very low," explained Jerry Thompson, 41, owner of Dominion Shooting Range Inc., a Richmond gun shop. "So we kind of thumb our nose at New York because gun laws are so restrictive there, but crime is higher."
In truth, the per capita crime rate was almost three times higher in Richmond than in New York City in 2004, according to the last full year of FBI data on major crimes.
Some ideas Bloomberg has already advanced in the city, and which could be replicated elsewhere, include hefty cash rewards for people who report illegal guns, and specialized courts that have increased sentences for illegal gun possession.
If the mayor plans to open his checkbook, the NRA has vowed to meet him head on in every state into which he ventures.
"We are just trying to figure out where he is going," said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam. "Just using his words and taking them at face value, it seems like he is trying to enact New York City's laws in other states."
With Celeste Katz and Carrie Melago
He's halfway there!
...If Bloomberg wants to glimpse the steep political hill he faces in trying to persuade red state America to be more like New York...
Great, the whole country a noisy, stinking ugly socialist hellhole like New York.
Stay home where you belong Bloomingidiot.
All cities with strict gun control laws, not surprisingly.
Bloomberg is just another elite who has bodyguards who CARRY GUNS. Same goes for Mayor Daley in Chicago, who belongs in jail.
Question for Mike - If Hitler hadn't confiscated hand guns in Germany, maybe the Jews could've fought back instead of being haplessly sent to death camps? What say you, Mike?
Mayor Boosts Anti-Gun Rhetoric
On Tuesday, he said there's no reason for companies to sell bullets that can pierce armored vests. "The last time I saw a deer wearing an armored vest was a long time ago," he remarked.
In other words, he wants to ban center-fire rifle ammuntion.
FYI Comrade Bloomberg:
The only body armors which will stop a center-fire rifle round are Class III (308 Winchester/7.62x51) and Class IV (30-06).
All other classes of body armor, Class I, Class II-A, Class II, and Class III-A, are rated to stop handgun rounds ONLY.
And we thought liberals had learned that gun-control was a losing issue for them. The Rat party was even going to try running pro-gun candidates. It was all BS.
The shame of it is Bloomberg ran for office as a Republican.
Freakin' pu$$ies.
You should make a movie about your NYC experiences...Death Wish IV, perhaps!
I don't think he wants to be Commander in Chief, King perhaps.....
There's no such thing as "illegal handguns"...
To you and me, it would be like the rape-Kitty question that Dukakis fumbled. But Bloomberg would say it was insulting and get your editor to fire you.
In NYC, Bloomberg IS a 'Pubby. They have (or had) a Conservative Party for real conservatives, of whom there are very, very few in NYC.
"...Some ideas Bloomberg has already advanced in the city, and which could be replicated elsewhere, include hefty cash rewards for people who report illegal guns..."
One of the Cincinnati City Council obliviots is running around spewing the same nonsense. She thinks if only churches would leave wicker baskets on their steps, the criminals would drop their guns into the baskets, and VOILA! No more guns on the streets! Friggin' maroon!
Ping!
Thanks for the ping.
I don't think the issue here is "..become more like NYC" with regards to legal gun ownership in other locales. the issue here is illegal guns, and illegal transport of guns.
I don't recall having to undergo a criminal background check to by a six-pack of beer. But then again, I buy beer less often than firearms, so maybe I've missed something?
Under our Constitution, the only illegal guns are stolen ones, and transporting those is illegal, as is receiving them. Otherwise, "shall not be infringed" means just that. Of course that's not what Da Mayor, is talking about. He's talking about keeping the "little people" disarmed, and vulnerable to the criminals, who, by definition, don't care about any stinking laws.
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