In His War on Illegal Guns, Bloomberg Is Facing Uphill

NY Times ^ | April 3, 2006 | SEWELL CHAN

[neverdem]

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's war against the gun industry went into overdrive last week, with an appearance on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and a speech two days later, at a fund-raising dinner for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in which he assailed illegal guns as "scourges to our society." And his campaign will only intensify in the next few months, as Mr. Bloomberg intends to announce the city's first lawsuits against rogue gun dealers and to press Albany to toughen the penalties for criminal gun possession.

The mayor has made fighting illegal guns a signature of his second-term agenda and vowed to use "every means at our disposal," from legislation to litigation, to curb the influx of out-of-state weapons, which the city says account for 82 percent of guns used in crimes.

But his high-profile quest to curb guns seems to hit mostly roadblocks once he leaves the five boroughs. A lawsuit the city filed against gun manufacturers in 2000 drags on in the courts. Albany has shown only a modest appetite for revisiting gun laws, while leaders in Washington have virtually ignored Mr. Bloomberg's views on guns. Indeed, it remains to be seen whether any mayor can make headway on gun policy, which is largely the province of the federal government.

"Bloomberg is swimming upstream against the national political tides on this issue," said Robert J. Spitzer, a political scientist at the State University of New York at Cortland, who has written extensively on gun-policy debates.

With limited success, big-city mayors past and present, from Tom Bradley of Los Angeles to Richard M. Daley of Chicago, have railed against guns, Professor Spitzer said, adding that Mr. Bloomberg has given new prominence to the issue.

[Puppage]

to toughen the penalties for criminal gun possession.

Yeah, because the 10 thousand + laws on the book just don't do it./sarc

[rellimpank]

--Bloomberg is the prime example of a noisemaking urban arschloch bereft of any worthwhile ideas--

[Erik Latranyi]

Bloomberg is the prime example of a noisemaking urban arschloch bereft of any worthwhile ideas

Can't this be said of all liberal politicians?

[rellimpank]

--and of about 99% of all "politicians"--

[Crispus Attucks Patriot]

He'll have some support from the NYPD, no doubt. Ever notice how COPS are always for gun confiscation?

[OldFriend]

If it were up to Mayor Blooming-idiot ALL guns would be illegal.

[Smokin' Joe]

The mayor has made fighting illegal guns a signature of his second-term agenda and vowed to use "every means at our disposal," from legislation to litigation, to curb the influx of out-of-state weapons, which the city says account for 82 percent of guns used in crimes.

Every means?

OK numbnuts, try this: legalize them. Issue carry permits to anyone of good reputation who can pass a background check, demonstrate proficiency, and takes a safety course. Open the city to legal indigenous sales of firearms.

After all it is the "out of state guns" you think are the problem. Obviously, the 'in state' ones are not a problem, so get off the nannyban wagon, and get with the program.

[theBuckwheat]

(Please learn a little more HTML before posting such a large graphic! Any graphic should fit well within a page. If it is way too big, people with low screen resolution such as 800x600 won't be able to see but a portion of it at any one time)

Bloomberg, the gun-grabbers and the MSM love the term " illegal guns", but what, exactly is an "illegal gun".

Not only does this category include stolen firearms, and firearms that have been illegally modified such as sawed off shotguns, but it also includes firearms that are perfectly legal in other parts of the country, such as AR15s with a bayonet lug, as opposed to AR15s without the dreaded and effective bayonet lug.

"illegal guns" is yet another too-easy pejorative term that these folks come up with to justify yet more gun-banning and gun-grabbing. Like snake oil, when their remedy fails yet again, the answer is never to question the remedy, but to believe that the patient only needs to take more of it. You only have to believe to make it work! Believe and it will work! Click you heels and it will work.

[neverdem]

BANG!

[Squantos]

Easy war to win Bloomberg.......make all firearms legal and make crime illegal. What a concept !

[NY.SS-Bar9]

Thank you for posting that.

FWIW, my club, and others in the area have been providing the town with practice facilites at our range.

That is going to stop.

[rellimpank]

--"cops"-the ones out on patrol usually aren't-(because they will be a civilian some day)--it's the chiefs who depend on an urban Demotraitor mayor for their budget and raises who are--

[wita]

Ach du lieber, du sprichts deutsch.

[rellimpank]

--Ja--one word, that one--

[TYVets]

Easy war to win Bloomberg.......make all firearms legal and make crime illegal. What a concept !

By passing just two laws the politicians could make that happen.

Great Idea !

[shekkian]

Could you make that picture a little smaller, so I could read it without having to scroll back and forth?

[Joe Brower]

The latest on Bloomberg. A definite thorn in our side, presently.

[mbynack]

Bloomberg, the gun-grabbers and the MSM love the term " illegal guns", but what, exactly is an "illegal gun".

Since New York City has outlawed the possession of almost all handguns, that makes virtually all privately owned handguns "illegal guns" and all New Yorkers who own them criminals.

[Sender]

The Kennedy definition (and Bloomberg's I'm sure) of "armor-piercing ammunition" is any ammunition that can pierce the flimsiest of t-shirt body armor.

Which of course includes ALL hunting ammunition, ALL rifle ammunition and most everything bigger than .22LR.

[elcid1970]

Here's another German word to describe Bloomberg:

Vollidiot!

[Palpatine]

see my tagline...

[ExSoldier]

Currently, it's mostly cops from from liberal northeastern states. Most cops from the deep south (this does not include south Florida which is really an extension of NYC) agree not only with the 2nd Amendment as an individual right, but they also tend to assert the right to CCW as well.

However, this is slowly changing as more and more cops fall victim to the antigun agendas of the public schools nationwide. Most cops are products of the public schools. The old breed cop that line up with the patriots of America are on the retirement lists more and more. The old lobos are also blatantly disgusted with the new breed of jack booted thugs. Rightly so.

[Beagle8U]

"The Kennedy definition (and Bloomberg's I'm sure) of "armor-piercing ammunition" is any ammunition that can pierce the flimsiest of t-shirt body armor."

Yes, but they use the words "Armor Piercing" because the unknowing liberal twit gun banners think its ammo that can shoot threw both sides of a tank.

Scary sounding stuff!

[wysiwyg]

[paul51]

--"cops"-the ones out on patrol usually aren't

Yeah, that's what they always say as they hide behind the chief.

[MaDeuce]

If it were up to Mayor Blooming-idiot ALL guns would be illegal. ... Except for HIS gun and the guns carried by his security staff. Hopefully this scumbag will have an aneurysm pop in his head and free Americans won't have to worry about him anymore.

[MaDeuce]

"New Yorkers Against Gun Violence"

... so are they for knife violence? Or baseball bat violence? ... Since they are stating only "gun" violence.

How about terrorist violence?

NYC, the septic tank of America.

[looscnnn]

Could you make the post a little larger, I can't quite read it.

[looscnnn]

Ist Das nicht ein Schnitzelbank?

[kerryusama04]

Wayne La Pierre wrote an article in America's First Feeedom a month or two ago that tallied the penalties for the last people who shot cops in NYC. He stopped counting and an absurd number.

[Crispus Attucks Patriot]

Oh, a WOISE GUY, eh?

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

There's a difference between the leadership of groups like the Fraternal Order of Police and their membership.

Most "cops" are not carbon-copies of their police chiefs or police commissioners, and have no problem with law-abiding, responsible gun-ownership among the general public.

[looscnnn]

Sointently!

[blackie]

Recall the little punk!

An Armed Citizen, Is A Safe Citizen!

The Second Amendment...
America's Only Homeland Security!

Be Ever Vigilant!

[ZULU]

It may be uphill, but he has some allies on OUR side - McCain and Giuliani - the tweedle-dee and Tweeedle-dum of control in the Republican ranks - not to mention the usual suspects on the Democrap side - Ted the Swimmer, Boxer, Frankenfeinstein, etc.

[OldFriend]

The man may be an idiot but I certainly don't wish him harm. So I'll reject your comments on his health.

[MaDeuce]

"The man may be an idiot but I certainly don't wish him harm. So I'll reject your comments on his health."

The man's anti-gun policies DOES WISH HARM upon people in his own city since they are directly affected by his policies. He would rather your daughter or sister be raped and murdered then have the tools necessary to protect themselves from murderous predators ... so my original statement stands.

[neverdem]

http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws/FederalGunLaws.aspx?ID=56

[El Gato]

If it were up to Mayor Blooming-idiot ALL guns would be illegal.

Exactly. In a country whose Constitution reads "... A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed", and a state whose "Civil Rights Law provides: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms cannot be infringed.", there is no place for any notion of illegal guns.

[OldPossum]

Excue my ignorance but I have never seen the word "arschloch" and I'm too lazy to look it up. What does that word mean?

[rellimpank]

--"anus" is the medical equivalent--

[OldPossum]

OK. Got it. Thanks.

[Skywalk]

All tyrants rely on the good will of good people to carry out their outrages.