Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is drawing fire from a major Washington-based gun rights group and a United States senator from Texas for suggesting to two major banking firms that they pressure Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger, two of the nation’s biggest firearms companies, to accept gun measures pushed by the Obama administration.
There is some question whether Emanuel’s efforts are legal, according to Fox News. Politico has excerpts of Emanuel's letters.
There is no question, however, at the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms or in the mind of Sen. Ted Cruz that what Emanuel is attempting is outrageous. On Tuesday, CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb likened Emanuel to a street thug, and accused him of demagoguery. Cruz offered an invitation to the banks to move operations to the Lone Star State, and he advised Emanuel to “keep (his) efforts to diminish the Bill of Rights north of the Red River.”
Emanuel, who served as White House chief of staff for President Barack Obama until he decided to run for office in Chicago, has been point man on anti-gun efforts in both the Clinton and Obama administrations. Sen. Cruz noted in his letter, sent to the CEOs at Bank of America and TD Bank, and to the heads of S&W and Sturm, Ruger, that Emanuel’s attempts to drive law-abiding gun makers out of business “hardly qualify as modest common-sense gun control.”
Gottlieb said in a statement that Emanuel “is acting like a Chicago gangster instead of a public servant.” He suggested that “Gun owners and people who believe in the Bill of Rights should stop giving Chicago a line of credit by purchasing municipal bonds.”
“Rahm wants to send a message, and the nation should send him a reply,” Gottlieb said.
Others believe the firearms industry should ramp things up a bit by refusing to do any more business with Chicago law enforcement.
Emanuel, occasionally referred to as “The Godfather,” appears to be living up to that image, both Cruz and Gottlieb suggested. His attempted strong-arming of banks could backfire politically, if not legally, by driving even more gun business to the very companies he evidently wants to punish.
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