I have no doubt that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg genuinely believes that gun control is a good thing, not a bad thing. In his mind, less guns equals less tragedy. Statistician and gun rights advocate John Lott would argue (and argue and argue) that the Mayor’s firearms equation indicates that he’s incapable of rational though and scientific analysis. Roger that. I reckon any man who depends on armed guards for his safety whilst denying others (other than his pals) the same right to armed self-defense is prone to muddled thinking. At best. But Mayor Bloomberg isn’t just confused. He’s nuts . . .
Like the previous mentally challenged gun guy outed by this website, Bloomberg believes that violating basic rules is OK. At least for him. I speak here of Bloomberg’s decision to send his anti-gun goons to Arizona to expose the “gun show loophole.” As The New York Times reports with glee (the attitude, not the TV program, although this would certainly make an interesting episode) . . .
Weeks after a shooting left six dead and 13 injured in Tucson, New York City sent undercover investigators to an Arizona gun show and found instances in which private sellers sold semiautomatic pistols even after buyers said they probably could not pass background checks, city officials said.
The investigation, part of an effort by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration to crack down on illegal gun sales nationwide, took place Jan. 23 at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show in Phoenix, officials said.
“The background check system failed in Arizona, it failed in Virginia and it fails in states around the country,” said John Feinblatt, an adviser to Mr. Bloomberg. “If we don’t fix it now, the question is not whether another massacre will occur, but when.”
I’d like to know exactly how many “weeks” expired between the Safeway Massacre and Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to green-light this black bag job. The passion with which Bloomberg’s pals pursue this issue is friggin’ ghoulish; remembering that spree killer Jared Lee Loughner bought his gun from a gun dealer, not a gun show.
Watch the video from today’s press conference [above]. They’ve got . . . bupkis. “It isn’t illegal but it should be”? That’s it? The fact that buying a nine millimeter Glock requires the same temporal commitment as buying a hamburger and fries at McDonald’s says more about McDonald’s slow service and eternally burgeoning menu than this [heavily edited] video says about gun show loopholes.
Oh, exactly how long did the gun purchase require? And where is that gun now, pray tell? Did Bloomberg’s operatives keep it as a thank you, along with a permit to carry in the Big Apple? Who paid for this junket?
Anyway, there’s no “gotcha.” This despite a repetition of the tactics Hizzoner’s boyz used to “sting” gun shows in Tennessee, Ohio, Virginia and Nevada. That undercover program pissed off Virginia so much they changed the law to prevent a repeat. And for good reason. Here’s a blog post on the operation from mypetjawa.mu.nu in October 2009.
The private investigators who conducted these stings violated federal law by traveling to other states to purchase handguns and transporting them over state lines. Some states allow purchases for residents of contiguous states, but last time I checked Barack Obama’s 57 state map of America, Ohio, Tennessee and Nevada are not contiguous to New York. Oops!
They also violated federal and state laws prohibiting “straw man” transfers by asking (or pretending, doesn’t matter) their accomplice to make such purchase for them (the law works both ways, folks!). Also interesting that they didn’t try this in Virginia, where Bloomberg tried this a few years ago, which specifically prohibits these kinds of entrapment operations. Bloomberg also got a nasty note from the DOJ last time he tried this.
Oh, they also violated Nevada law by videorecording the transactions without all the parties’ consent (NV is one of 12 states that requires such). And at least one of the gunshows they attended in Ohio specifically prohibits any pictures or recordings, video or audio.
Even more basically, who the fuck does Bloomberg think he is? The ATF? And while we’re at it, who the f do they think they are?
Ahem. When the Mayor of a major metropolitan city decides to spy on a state that’s some 2400 miles away, trying to show the hicks how to enforce their laws, he’s got some serious boundary issues. The sanctity of states’ rights is one of America’s most profound protections from crusading nut jobs like . . . Mayor Bloomberg.
My take: Bloomberg wants to be President. He can’t wait. Literally. So he acts like the President. Either that or Mayor Bloomberg knows he’ll never be President. Faced with implacable opposition, he’s gone rogue. Bloomberg no longer cares about logic or political expediency or whom or what he steamrolls in his Quixotic attempts to close loopholes of entirely questionable relevance. If he ever did.
Fanaticism indicates mental instability. I rest my case.
I must respectfully disagree with my raving-lunatic friend Mr. Farago. If, at gun shows, dealers are selling firearms to people who admit they wouldn’t pass a background check, they are breaking the law. It is illegal to sell a gun, even privately, to someone if you have reasonable belief that person might be prohibited from buying one. If someone says, “I wouldn’t pass the background check, heh heh,” that gives you reasonable belief. In a perfect world, the police would be investigating and busting such people. In an even more perfect world, we of the responsible gun-owning community would be doing it. We who enjoy firearms and believe in gun rights need to stop protecting irresponsible boneheads. My esteemed colleague, the honorable but completely batshit Mr. Farago, is, I think, reacting with such vitriol because he is ashamed, as I am, that we gun guys allow such people as those Arizona gun dealers in our midst. It takes Michael Bloomberg to call us on the sloppiness of our supposed gun culture, and that stings. As mayor, Bloomberg is responsible for the safety of the people of New York. Guns sold by slimeballs at Virginia and Arizona gun shows make their way to New York and are used there in crimes. He has as much right to investigate and try to stop those dealers as the United States has to go after its enemies in Afghanistan; they’re far away but they do us harm. Instead of attacking him, we should be saying, “Right on, Mr. Mayor. Please publish the names of those dealers so we can boycott their stores.”
Thank you sir may I have some more? I don’t think so.
Bloomberg’s a loose cannon. How would he like it if Tucson’s mayor sent private dicks to check out NYC’s mental health record keeping? Or City College’s record of dealing with “odd” students?
That’s in general. In specific, Bloomberg’s goons were actively seeking to nail AZ gun show dealers. Where I come from, that’s called entrapment. Hizzoner is in the midst of some press conference right now, showing hidden camera video of these “stings.” Can’t wait.
The ends do not justify the means. That is, in fact, one of the fundamental principles of the U.S. Constitution.
Can’t the Feds just arrest and charge whoever was doing the dirty work Bloomberg? Arrest enough of them, and eventually the mayor won’t be able to get anyone to do this.
Might not fix the real problem, but it’d put him back into his place. Sorta.
I don’t subscribe to either the pre-presidency anticipation theory or the chief executive prevention frustration hypothesis. I think it’s a combination of two things, actually.
As Dan says, above, Bloomberg sees some percentage of guns sold in other states ending up in NYC (however small that may be) and figures that grants him jurisdiction to pull this kind of 60 Minutes-style sting operation. Combine that with the fact that (at least until the failure to remove snow from the upper west side in a timely manner) hizzoner has been remarkably free of serious criticism for anything his administration has done (including forcing a vote to give him another term in office).
He’s an extremely wealthy man who’s used to doing exactly as he pleases, both at Bloomberg, Inc. and as mayor, and doesn’t brook any lip from anyone. Little things such as encroaching on the ATF’s ever-expanding territory or sending his minions into other states to investigate their law enforcement methods (and shortcomings) mean very little to him. The same guy who’s successfully outlawed trans-fats in your doughnuts certainly sees plenty of justification in going to these lengths to expose the egregious evils of private party gun sales.
Robert, I don’t remember what your position is on this issue, do you oppose mandatory background checks on non-FFL sales? To me that’s a pretty unreasonable position, and although I agree with you that Bloomberg’s methods are questionable, he is pointing out serious lacunae in a way that people cannot continue to deny them. What the feds can’t do for one reason or another, he is able to do and he’s doing it.
I applaud his efforts.
But if you can’t dispose of something, it’s not really yours!
I have a serious problem with anyone telling me who I can or cannot sell my personal property to. Either I own it or I don’t. Trust me, with an ever expanding federal government, you want to keep property rights as safe as possible. Don’t open this can of worms.
The sad part is that due to political position and wealth, Bloomberg and his minions are not being prosecuted.
I don’t give 2 good flyin’ effs what he is investigating. Guns, drugs, child porn, all pale in comparison to his breaking the law to advance his own ideals.
What does matter is that he is operating so far beyond the law that he needs to be arrested, charged, and tried. Just like any of us would be if we engaged in such conduct to prove a point.
From the information presented, both sides are in the wrong. The dealers who knowingly sold the weapons and the private investigators the mayor paid belong in federal prison, as does Mayor Bloomberg and whatever members of his staff participated in the planning or execution of these felonies.
Selling a gun to a person who admits they can’t pass the background check is crime.
Straw man purchases are a crime. (does this apply to Non-FFL holders? Can I sell a gun to my brother-in-law with the knowledge that he is going to give the gun to his mother as a gift?)
Purchasing guns for interstate transport without an FFL is crime.
Videotaping (in AZ) without knowledge of both parties is a crime.
Conspiracy to commit those acts is a crime.
Are those unnamed PIs licensed to posess guns in New York?
When will we see the ATF take action now that they have reason to believe that crimes have been committed?
Absolutely agree!
Tucson/Pima County should convene a grand jury and indict Bloomberg!
By the way, I support background checks for all gun show sales.
Mr. Farago may certainly have some more. It’s a pleasure. First, let’s switch you to decaf. “The ends don’t justify the means” is nowhere in the Constitution, either written or implied. But onto the substance of your response: Where you come from that’s called entrapment? You come from Providence. Even in Providence, only law enforcement can “entrap” people. Bloomberg can’t. (And even if he were a cop, what he did would not have been entrapment, even in Providence.) His is a journalistic operation, much like 60 Minutes — thank you for the analogy, 2yellowdogs — to demonstrate to the world what’s going on. I applaud anybody who throws light. Supton’s right; cops should be busting those guys for violating the law. They’re not, so Bloomberg is embarrassing them. Good for him. He may be overreaching on transfats and salt and may be repellent to people for a whole host of reasons, but we responsible gun owners should be grateful to him, and more important, should take a lesson that we need to do a better job of policing our own ranks. Gabriel, your point is well taken, but we accept all kind of limitations on what we can do with our property. Try selling a bottle of liquor or a gun that you own to a 15 year old, and see what happens. Good people can disagree on whether private gun sales should be regulated or outlawed. But there’s no principle involved of “either I own it or I don’t.”
So, because you believe what he is doing is ‘right’ the fact that he and his agents are violating multiple State and Federal laws to do it is somehow acceptable?
Do you believe that our elected officials are no longer citizens and somehow above the law?
Please explain how you come to believe how any sane mayor can come to the conclusion that he has any legal right what so ever operating outside the city to which he was elected.
As you believe this to be a good idea and is just ‘reporting’, may I suggest that you initiate a similar investigative experiment. Please post an update once you get settled into your prison cell.
You give Bloomberg credit for at least acting in good faith. But he’s not acting in good faith. His position is based on social control. His assertions in general are lies. He really has no business holding public office.
First off Dan, I was good to hear you on Cam & Company.
Bllomberg is tryign to create an issue where virtually none exists. His issue, is he wants New York style laws everywhere. He doesn’t like that oter states have laws less infringing, that his bullshit laws. So he tries to drum things up like …weeks after the Safeway shooting you can walk into a Arizona gun show plop down cash and walk out with a Glock and a couple of 33 round clips.
The average person doesn’t know gun laws and becuase of the Brady brainwash, BS about 7 days, most people think thee is a waiting period. When in fact my screwed up state of Illinois is only 1 of 7 that have a waiting period on rifles and shotguns.
So Bllomberg tries play on people’s ignorance, and use his office and money to try and create a narative about a set of values that conflict with his own and try to get people to take action and support him in changing the norms in other parts of the country.
He uses the ruse of private sales at gun shows to tryn and project “unlicensed dealers” and segway that into a ban on private sales.
What drives gun guys nuts is their intelecual dishonestly, fabracations and lies about the issue. Private sellers are NOT unlicenesed dealers. Thee is no gun show loophole — private sales are treated differently than retail sales in a majority of the country.
Bloomberg hates the fact that someone can walk into a gun show, or strike a deal with a private seller, look at the gun, agree to a price, trade cash and walk away. No paperwork, no trail no governemnt permission, no 3 day, 7 day or 30 day wait.
And typical to all gun hatin control freaks, they only want this today and then they’ll be back for more tommorow. We know from Experiance.
Take Illinois. We hav a FOID card Firearm Owners IDentification card. You must have one to own or possess guns or ammo. It takes about 30 days to get, they run a background check on you and issue the card $10 for 10 years. Then you have a 72 hour wait to buy a handgun, 24 hours for long gun. And at the point of retail sale another background check.
They came after the alleged gun show loophole. EVen though there was none as you could not legally sell or give a firearm to someone who did not have a FOID card so the background check was already done. But they jumped up and down and convinced some legislators there was a loop hole.
Now they are back wanting all private sales to go through dealers. So mush for we just want to close the “gun show loop hole” their rela goal is to 1. try and stop private sales. 2. harass gun owners. 3. get paper trails and records on all firearms as a prelude to a national or state wide registration system.
All of Bloombergs efforts are directed at trygin tot regulate the right out of existance. He won’t argue and tries to say this is not a deabet about the Second Amendment, becsue the minute he does, he runs into the issue of fundemental rights and the propper level of scrutiny for such regulations which is where he doesn’t want to be.
The rest of it is that the gun control movement is failing. Joyce hasd pulled funding and their presdient is know on a quest of tilting at windmills trying to ralley others tot he cuase to raise money.
Without Bloomberg’s money, and bullypulpit as Mayor they would be even more irrelevent. He and his cash help keep a dying movement on life support.
he thinks he can break the laws, others would be prosecuted for because his reasoning and motive, that makes it all ok. We still haven’t seen all of the video and would wager that they release the stuff that doesn’t make their case. I can also see some one saying like what they said as a half assed joke, and the seller laughing it off. Just like someone saying be good and the reply coming back “Not me, never”.
Not good for the seller, and they should know that federal law prohibits the slae of a gun to someone who is a felon. But most of those guys, prbably won’t ask the question. AZ isn’t NYC. They just don;t think like that. You’re more likely to get a private seller to ask a question about imigration status than if the person is a felon.
2YellowDogs is right, Bloomberg is a man who is wealthy and does as he pleases. He is not used to hearing the word “No”. His money and the “power” of his office feed that ego like a kid at a petting zoo. You can’t do what you want just because you have more money than God and you are obstensibly in charge of the biggest city in the country. What gives him the authority to run his own private Stasi and send them off to do “investigations” in other states? Nothing, that’s what.
When law enforcement does stuff like this it’s called a sting operation and it’s done within the color of the law. When a private citizen mis-represents himself and makes a straw purchase it’s called a felony, whether they work for Bloomberg or not.
The point of course is that at some point someone has to be willing to say “enough is enough.” I’ve got lots of friends that say this is a good spot to draw such a line. Should the person who wants to buy my used car be required to pass a background check? It is probably more likely to kill someone or be used in a crime than a firearm. Perhaps background checks would be appropriate for pocket knives, or even box cutters? Besides, does anyone have any reliable numbers on how many of these firearms that slip through this “loophole” are actually used in crimes? Surely Bloomberg would be above using a manufactured issue to polish his credentials with left of reasonable Americans, wouldn’t he?
Keep in mind that this is the same Mayor Blamebag who did an end-run around term limits in order to maintain his grip on power in New York for another four years. But insane? That’s a bit harsh. Above the law, yes. Bloated with self-importance, yes. Seeking to remain politically relevant, yes. A pompous, posturing ass, yes. But not insane.
Mayor bloomingfool is a INSANE AND ARROGANT. I 100 percent with RF on this.
Why are you giving him an out? If he ever gets held accountable for his crimes he will just plead insanity and get off 😉 He’s a criminal, plain and simple.
There’s a simple solution to the entire problem. Let’s repeal the Gun Control Act of 1968. Then we have a situation where there are no Federal Firearms Licenses, and anyone can sell a gun to anyone else. Mikey can go back to having his cops stop and frisk everyone they like in NYC (violating the 4th Amendment) and can stop pissing and moaning about how guns are sold out here in free America. He can also go right ahead and chap his lips on my ass.
Why are we discussing how best to comply with an unconstitutional law when we could be discussing how to repeal it? Question: Where did the Feds get the power to tell people who could and could not sell a legal product, and to whom? Answer: they made it up out of whole cloth.
While we are at it, lets repeal the National Firearms Act of 1934 and go back to the good old days where you could buy machine guns out of the Sears Catalog. They blamed mob violence on guns back then when they should have been blaming it on Prohibition. They are doing the same thing today.
I assert the back-round check Bloomberg wants is already in place in his home venue, and it works in such a fashion that only cop’s relatives, politicians, celebrities and all in all the ‘beautiful people’ get carry permits. Mayor Mike and Chuckie Schumer are among the blessed. Otherwise, you’re at the mercy of the hundreds of thousands of guns in the hands of the thugs.
The NYC code is online for whoever cares to read it; also a list of all legal gun-carriers in NYS. The biggest issue I have with this instant-check nonsense is that it means I cannot dispose of my own property. If I can’t, then I really don’t own it.
We mostly preach to the choir here. We should be writing to the NYT, Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, Harper’s and all the other media that don’t want to hear from us. But we should use spell check and grammar check and leave out the invective and maybe the sheer numbers of messages we let loose will start giving us a voice where today we lack one.
I’m not clear on two allegations here. There is no evidence Blamebag sent investigators from NY. My initial read was that they were PI’s hired in AZ, since they had to show AZ ID for the purchase. Also, did Blamebag show these same guns at his press conference? If not, how do we know it was a straw purchase and/or transported illegally back to NY?
Please don’t make the same mistake our opponents do and allege crimes occurred where they may not have, unless you have evidence.
It’s only $100,000 The Government isn’t worried about americans killing each other, they just want to disarm Americans. then it will be easier for the U.N. Troops to be stationed here, they are coming!
Why would anyone believe anything that Bloomberg says? How does anyone know that what he says happened in AZ is true?
McDonald’s menu is a symphony of familiar flavors, forever etched in our collective fast-food consciousness. The star of the show, undoubtedly, is the Big Mac, a double-decker masterpiece featuring juicy all-beef patties, tangy pickles, melty cheese, crisp lettuce, creamy Big Mac sauce, and a soft sesame seed bun. https://mcdonaldsmenusg.com/
Comments are closed.