C&P PROTECTING STATE SOVEREIGNTY (About Bloomberg)
Copied from THE BULLET, The official publication of the Virginia Shooting Sports Association, July/August 2007
PROTECTING STATE SOVEREIGNTY
By Attorney General Bob McDonnell
Last year New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg used non-law enforcement private investigators to perform undercover simulated straw purchases at gun shops in Virginia and five other states. With no notice given to Virginia law enforcement about his plans, the Mayor dispatched his vigilantes to try to find wrong doing on the part of law-aiding Virginia gun dealers by misrepresenting the identity of the actual buyer.
The criticism of the Mayor's actions started with the U. S. Department of Justice. On Feb. 6, 2007, the DOJ wrote to Mayor Bloomberg's office on behalf of the U. S. Attorneys in the affected states, noting "however well-intentioned" New York's actions may have been, they "can unintentionally interrupt or jeopardize ongoing criminal investigations." The letter added that there would be no federal prosecutions of the gun dealers, and in fact "there are potential legal liabilities" in the unauthorized methods employed.
At the same time that letter was being written in Washington, we were taking legislative action in Richmond. As part of my legislative agenda, we crafted a bill for the General Assembly to make it a felony to conduct such unauthorized operations in Virginia.
Sponsored by Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William, the General Assembly of Virginia passed House Bill 2653 overwhelmingly, and Gov. Timothy Kaine signed it into law without amendment effective July 1, 2007.
This legislation states that no one can conduct such simulated straw purchases of firearms except Virginia law enforcement or their agents. The new legislation makes it "a Class 6 felony for any person, except for a law-enforcement officer in the performance of his official duties or other person under the direct supervision of the law-enforcement officer, to attempt to solicit or otherwise entice a firearms dealer to transfer or otherwise convey a firearm other than to an actual buyer." Straw purchases have long been illegal under Virginia law, and only Virginia law enforcement and federal law enforcement can conduct investigations into such criminal activity.
As a courtesy to Mayor Bloomberg, I sent him a letter on April 13th advising him of the new law. It would have been most unfortunate for private investigators to unwittingly commit felonies in Virginia if New York continued its activities.
The Mayor's spokesman, Jason Post, told reporters: "The Attorney General should stop his defense of rogue gun dealers." The Mayor's office eventually made statements relenting and agreeing to comply with Virginia law.
Unfortunately, this became a public debate when all we were asking was to obey Virginia's law. This is an important matter of state sovereignty. We don't enforce New York law and they have no authority to enforce ours. However, we will work with New York and our neighbors to improve public safety and address legitimate law enforcement concerns.
Virginia has a long history of positive, cooperative law enforcement work with our New York counterparts. Just a few weeks ago, I had a good phone call with New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. We both pledged to continue working together in a positive manner on public safety issues involving our states.
Here in Virginia we have a low crime rate, and our state and local police are second to none. Preserving public safety is my foremost objective, and Virginia is known nationally as a great, safe place to raise a family, or conduct a business. We are also a Commonwealth committed to the fundamental constitutional rights our founders enumerated, and that includes the right to bear arms. The Second Amendment is to precious to be trampled for political gain.
PROTECTING STATE SOVEREIGNTY
By Attorney General Bob McDonnell
Last year New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg used non-law enforcement private investigators to perform undercover simulated straw purchases at gun shops in Virginia and five other states. With no notice given to Virginia law enforcement about his plans, the Mayor dispatched his vigilantes to try to find wrong doing on the part of law-aiding Virginia gun dealers by misrepresenting the identity of the actual buyer.
The criticism of the Mayor's actions started with the U. S. Department of Justice. On Feb. 6, 2007, the DOJ wrote to Mayor Bloomberg's office on behalf of the U. S. Attorneys in the affected states, noting "however well-intentioned" New York's actions may have been, they "can unintentionally interrupt or jeopardize ongoing criminal investigations." The letter added that there would be no federal prosecutions of the gun dealers, and in fact "there are potential legal liabilities" in the unauthorized methods employed.
At the same time that letter was being written in Washington, we were taking legislative action in Richmond. As part of my legislative agenda, we crafted a bill for the General Assembly to make it a felony to conduct such unauthorized operations in Virginia.
Sponsored by Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William, the General Assembly of Virginia passed House Bill 2653 overwhelmingly, and Gov. Timothy Kaine signed it into law without amendment effective July 1, 2007.
This legislation states that no one can conduct such simulated straw purchases of firearms except Virginia law enforcement or their agents. The new legislation makes it "a Class 6 felony for any person, except for a law-enforcement officer in the performance of his official duties or other person under the direct supervision of the law-enforcement officer, to attempt to solicit or otherwise entice a firearms dealer to transfer or otherwise convey a firearm other than to an actual buyer." Straw purchases have long been illegal under Virginia law, and only Virginia law enforcement and federal law enforcement can conduct investigations into such criminal activity.
As a courtesy to Mayor Bloomberg, I sent him a letter on April 13th advising him of the new law. It would have been most unfortunate for private investigators to unwittingly commit felonies in Virginia if New York continued its activities.
The Mayor's spokesman, Jason Post, told reporters: "The Attorney General should stop his defense of rogue gun dealers." The Mayor's office eventually made statements relenting and agreeing to comply with Virginia law.
Unfortunately, this became a public debate when all we were asking was to obey Virginia's law. This is an important matter of state sovereignty. We don't enforce New York law and they have no authority to enforce ours. However, we will work with New York and our neighbors to improve public safety and address legitimate law enforcement concerns.
Virginia has a long history of positive, cooperative law enforcement work with our New York counterparts. Just a few weeks ago, I had a good phone call with New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. We both pledged to continue working together in a positive manner on public safety issues involving our states.
Here in Virginia we have a low crime rate, and our state and local police are second to none. Preserving public safety is my foremost objective, and Virginia is known nationally as a great, safe place to raise a family, or conduct a business. We are also a Commonwealth committed to the fundamental constitutional rights our founders enumerated, and that includes the right to bear arms. The Second Amendment is to precious to be trampled for political gain.
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the mayor is just trying to keep guns out of the hands of punks .go to new yorks daily news web site a cop died last nite after getting blown away on a traffic stop by punks packing three pistols one of which i believe traces to virginia 0 -
quote:Originally posted by turtles11756
the mayor is just trying to keep guns out of the hands of punks .go to new yorks daily news web site a cop died last nite after getting blown away on a traffic stop by punks packing three pistols one of which i believe traces to virginia
Are there unscrupulous gun dealers out there that would sell a gun to Osama Bin Laden if there was a buck to be made? Absolutely, there are PLENTY of shady, slimy gun dealers who care only about money. But the fact remains, if NYC is having a problem with Virginia straw purchases, then they need to pick up a phone and call the feds or state law enforcement in Virginia and tell them which shops they suspect are intentionally selling guns to known criminal traffickers and let Virginia investigate if need be.0 -
Freedom is a rare commodity! In a free society people are allowed to own guns and other dangerous tools and people can and do get hurt.
In the big picture I choose freedom over the Mayor's personal anti-gun agenda! He may hate motorcycles next and decide to eliminate them from his personal world!
Its not really about the crime, its about his personal hatred for firearms, his massive ego and his will to get his way! Too much money and time on his hands. In my humble opinion.0 -
Gee. If state "A" has info that a subject in state "B" is committing a crime then state "A" should inform state "B" of that information.
Or state "A" should inform the FBI, the best way to get out of state cooperation is by sharing information, not subverting the other states jurisdiction on an illegal investigation.0
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