Things that make you go, "hmmmm"
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/0518edequal.html
N.Y. gun suit all about headlines
By ALAN GOTTLIEB
Published on: 05/18/06
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's lawsuit against 15 alleged "rogue" firearms dealers in five states is political grandstanding run amok.
The press and prosecutors in those five states ought to be asking Bloomberg why, if his investigators had positively identified these retailers and caught them in an illegal act, was the information not turned over to the proper authorities, including the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives?
Instead, the headline-hunting Bloomberg launched a civil lawsuit in what should be, if he is to be believed, a criminal action.
There's a reason for that. The private investigators New York hired to conduct this sting must have made deliberately false statements on federal firearms purchase forms. That's a felony. They should be prosecuted. If Bloomberg sent them to do this, he's an accessory, if not a conspirator.
Given Bloomberg's anti-gun history, and that of New York's previous unsuccessful efforts to sue firearms manufacturers, he is turning his attention to retailers. Yet, his ultimate goal remains the same, and it has nothing to do with stopping criminals.
His intent, and that of his cheerleaders, is to demonize gun owners and ultimately drive gun manufacturers out of business while destroying the individual right to keep and bear arms in the process.
Behind this pathetic charade is Bloomberg's hope of stopping federal legislation that would prevent cities from gaining access to firearms tracing data. He and other anti-gun mayors want to conduct legal fishing expeditions to bolster junk lawsuits against gun makers, which Congress outlawed last year. Those data are available to law enforcement agencies conducting bona fide criminal investigations, and he knows it.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation has a superb program called "Don't Lie for the Other Guy," aimed at stopping illegal gun purchases. Bloomberg prefers not to cooperate with the gun industry to catch criminals, but to grab headlines in what can only be described as a campaign that is hideously bloated with flash, but deplorably lacking in substance.
• Alan Gottlieb is founder of the Second Amendment Foundation.