[I will be a guest on NRA News his evening, February 2, at 10:20 PM EST, to discuss the topic in this article. The show is broadcast on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's Patriot Channel and at www.nranews.com.]
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wears many hats. A number of them are ill-fitting and beyond the purview of big city mayor. Two years ago, wearing the hat of global warmist, Bloomberg proclaimed that climate change was a bigger threat than terrorism. Last year, he swapped that hat for one reading amateur cardiologist, as he embarked on a crusade to take salt shakers out of the hands of Americans who like their food with flavor.
His latest, and possibly silliest, headwear is that of undercover documentary maker. To demonstrate an indemonstrable connection between gun control and the shootings that occurred in Tucson several Saturdays back, Bloomberg sent a clandestine film crew to a gun show in Phoenix. One of his self-professed goals was to show
just how easy it is for anyone with a driver’s license to walk into a gun show and buy the weapons used in the Tucson shooting.
One might rightly ask who footed the bill for Bloomberg’s “sting” operation, but a more trenchant question is why hizzoner thinks limiting legal access to weapons is the solution to ending crimes involving handguns. Maybe Bloomberg needs to scope out his hat collection again. If he does he will find one that reads co-founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. [Emphasis added]
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) reports that the majority of handguns used in crimes are obtained illegally. Most of these guns are not stolen—that’s a popular misconception—but they are acquired by illicit means. The methods used include “straw purchases,” when someone who may not legally acquire a firearm or wants to do so anonymously has a companion buy the gun on his behalf.
Oftentimes these illegal transactions are entered into willingly by unscrupulous gun store owners. If the nation is going to crack down on the sale of handguns to those prone to use them in crimes, this is where the investigation needs to begin. The ATF estimates that of the nation's 124,000 retail licensed gun sellers, about 8% engage in these criminal practices.
As for Bloomberg, maybe he should focus more on the job he was elected to do than on solving the nation’s ills. Several weeks ago, about a dozen New Yorkers in need of emergency medical treatment died because of Bloomberg’s failure to make sure his sanitation department removed the snow from impassable streets following a blizzard. It would be reassuring to know the next time disaster strikes that the mayor is at home rather than out on some mission to save the planet.
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