Bloomberg Strikes Again (easier for dial-up versio
Copied from THE BULLET Jan/Feb 2007
President's Column
Bloomberg Strikes Again
If you have been following the news, you know that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been on a crusade to make himself the expert on firearm straw purchases. Since he can't get Congress to take him seriously, he has decided to restrict our ability to purchase firearms by selectively targeting "mom and pop" firearms dealers he believes are the source of firearms for criminals in New York. So far, he has targeted a total of 27 firearm dealers, in Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia.
Bloomy seems to think that his "novel" approach is gaining momentum. The newest round of Virginia gun shops includes Bob Moates Sport Shop in Chesterfield County, Franklin Rod & Gun Shop in Rocky Mount and Town & Country Pawn Shop in Roanoke. This is in addition to Cole's Gun Shop in South Boston, Webb's Sporting Goods in Madison Heights, Patriot Services in Richmond and Old Dominion Guns and Tackle of Danville.
Webb's and Old Dominion have basically told Bloomy which cliff he can jump off. Sighting economic reasons, Cole's agreed to a settlement that allows Bloomberg's hand picked judge to send a "special master" to oversee gun sales. The owner of Patriot Services has closed that business and opened a new business known as Virginia Firearms and Transfers, Inc., but he is still on the hook because Bloomberg has gone after dealers - not gun shops. The most recent targets of Bloomberg have not indicated how they will respond.
The Richmond Times Dispatch reported after the second suit was filed that Richard Hill, a salesman at Bob Moates, said "You can't fudge" gun sales. "Everything going through here has to match up ... We have to put it through the state police and FBI criminal computer." Hill added that they can't control what someone with Virginia identification does with their purchase once they've left the store.
Bob Moates has been selling guns for about 50 years. The shop is of special interest to me because that is the shop where my grandfather bought our licenses every year before taking me hunting and fishing when I was a kid. I remember to this day going in the shop and the guys behind the counter knew my grandfather so well they called him "shorty" (he was about 5' 3"). I continue to shop there to this day having purchased a shotgun recently from the shop and when I take my daughter fishing, I buy bait at the shop. So, you could say Bloomberg's latest attack is personal for me.
It's not by accident that Bloomberg has chosen small shops with little in the way of resources to do battle in court with a major city. It is the classic David vs. Goliath except in this version of the story, they removed all of the rocks so that David is completely disarmed. Standing firmly in the corner of Bloomberg and his fellow mayors is the Brady Campaign with their annual list of "dealers" who are supposedly the source of choice for straw purchasers. In fact, the communications director of the Brady Campaign, Peter Hamm, said the organization was proud of the settlements achieved by the city.
Some are questioning whether his crusade against gun dealers is going to have the real effect on curbing the number of illegal guns that end up on city streets. A total of five dealers who have been sued have settled (including one Virginia dealer as mentioned above). Bloomberg has touted the settlements as "landmark agreements" that will "send a message that reckless sale of firearms will not be tolerated."
Not everyone is convinced the special monitors will translate into fewer guns being used in crimes in New York. The director of New York University's Center for Research in Crime and Justice, James Jacobs, said the settlements would at best convince some gun dealers to be more vigilant about record-keeping, but would not prevent guns from illegally entering the city.
Jacobs said the problem is that the bulk of illegal guns entering New York and other municipalities don't necessarily come from corrupt dealers. Many guns are stolen or sold second-hand.
Bloomberg's goal is clear, threaten the livelihood of small businessmen by making them either knuckle under to the bully tactics, or face potential bankruptcy because of mounting legal bills and thus begin to dry up the easy access of firearms to law abiding citizens. If they knuckle under, they may face the wrath of gun owners much as Smith and Wesson did when their former owners joined Clinton in his anti-gun schemes.
As it has become harder and harder to pass anti-gun laws at the federal and in many cases the state level, the gun ban lobby has resorted to the courts. When Congress took away one avenue to the courts, Bloomberg opened another. This is proof that we must never become complacent and think because we have pro-gun elected officials that we can relax and not worry.
Every one of the Virginia gun shops sued by Bloomberg are longtime staples of the communities and have been a source of firearms for law abiding citizens for years. Patriot Services was a regular vendor at gun shows throughout Virginia and the region.
All gun owners have a stake in this battle. With every mom and pop shop that is forces to go along with Bloomberg's bullying, he becomes more emboldened and will find other small shops to trap within his net of deceit. If Bloomberg's assault causes these small shops to go out of business, that is just one step closer to a gun ban by default.
This writer is not going to make a judgment about whether the one shop in Virginia that has settled with Bloomberg should be punished by gun owners in their area. I will leave that to the conscience of individuals that live near the shop. These are not large corporations; they are mom and pop shops with little in the way of financial resources. They may not even be able to depend on their insurance companies to stand by them in the legal battles.
I will say that we must stand up to the bully from New York City. From the very beginning, there have been questions about whether Bloomberg's "investigators" violated the law by lying on the Federal form 4473 when making their so-called "straw purchases". In fact, he has been stonewalling turning over any evidence of wrong doing on the part of gun dealers to BATFE. If the target gun dealers violated the law by knowingly selling to straw purchasers, why have criminal charges not been filed? BATFE should be required to investigate this as well as if Bloomberg's hired guns broke the law and if they did, they should be held accountable.
David Adams
President's Column
Bloomberg Strikes Again
If you have been following the news, you know that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been on a crusade to make himself the expert on firearm straw purchases. Since he can't get Congress to take him seriously, he has decided to restrict our ability to purchase firearms by selectively targeting "mom and pop" firearms dealers he believes are the source of firearms for criminals in New York. So far, he has targeted a total of 27 firearm dealers, in Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia.
Bloomy seems to think that his "novel" approach is gaining momentum. The newest round of Virginia gun shops includes Bob Moates Sport Shop in Chesterfield County, Franklin Rod & Gun Shop in Rocky Mount and Town & Country Pawn Shop in Roanoke. This is in addition to Cole's Gun Shop in South Boston, Webb's Sporting Goods in Madison Heights, Patriot Services in Richmond and Old Dominion Guns and Tackle of Danville.
Webb's and Old Dominion have basically told Bloomy which cliff he can jump off. Sighting economic reasons, Cole's agreed to a settlement that allows Bloomberg's hand picked judge to send a "special master" to oversee gun sales. The owner of Patriot Services has closed that business and opened a new business known as Virginia Firearms and Transfers, Inc., but he is still on the hook because Bloomberg has gone after dealers - not gun shops. The most recent targets of Bloomberg have not indicated how they will respond.
The Richmond Times Dispatch reported after the second suit was filed that Richard Hill, a salesman at Bob Moates, said "You can't fudge" gun sales. "Everything going through here has to match up ... We have to put it through the state police and FBI criminal computer." Hill added that they can't control what someone with Virginia identification does with their purchase once they've left the store.
Bob Moates has been selling guns for about 50 years. The shop is of special interest to me because that is the shop where my grandfather bought our licenses every year before taking me hunting and fishing when I was a kid. I remember to this day going in the shop and the guys behind the counter knew my grandfather so well they called him "shorty" (he was about 5' 3"). I continue to shop there to this day having purchased a shotgun recently from the shop and when I take my daughter fishing, I buy bait at the shop. So, you could say Bloomberg's latest attack is personal for me.
It's not by accident that Bloomberg has chosen small shops with little in the way of resources to do battle in court with a major city. It is the classic David vs. Goliath except in this version of the story, they removed all of the rocks so that David is completely disarmed. Standing firmly in the corner of Bloomberg and his fellow mayors is the Brady Campaign with their annual list of "dealers" who are supposedly the source of choice for straw purchasers. In fact, the communications director of the Brady Campaign, Peter Hamm, said the organization was proud of the settlements achieved by the city.
Some are questioning whether his crusade against gun dealers is going to have the real effect on curbing the number of illegal guns that end up on city streets. A total of five dealers who have been sued have settled (including one Virginia dealer as mentioned above). Bloomberg has touted the settlements as "landmark agreements" that will "send a message that reckless sale of firearms will not be tolerated."
Not everyone is convinced the special monitors will translate into fewer guns being used in crimes in New York. The director of New York University's Center for Research in Crime and Justice, James Jacobs, said the settlements would at best convince some gun dealers to be more vigilant about record-keeping, but would not prevent guns from illegally entering the city.
Jacobs said the problem is that the bulk of illegal guns entering New York and other municipalities don't necessarily come from corrupt dealers. Many guns are stolen or sold second-hand.
Bloomberg's goal is clear, threaten the livelihood of small businessmen by making them either knuckle under to the bully tactics, or face potential bankruptcy because of mounting legal bills and thus begin to dry up the easy access of firearms to law abiding citizens. If they knuckle under, they may face the wrath of gun owners much as Smith and Wesson did when their former owners joined Clinton in his anti-gun schemes.
As it has become harder and harder to pass anti-gun laws at the federal and in many cases the state level, the gun ban lobby has resorted to the courts. When Congress took away one avenue to the courts, Bloomberg opened another. This is proof that we must never become complacent and think because we have pro-gun elected officials that we can relax and not worry.
Every one of the Virginia gun shops sued by Bloomberg are longtime staples of the communities and have been a source of firearms for law abiding citizens for years. Patriot Services was a regular vendor at gun shows throughout Virginia and the region.
All gun owners have a stake in this battle. With every mom and pop shop that is forces to go along with Bloomberg's bullying, he becomes more emboldened and will find other small shops to trap within his net of deceit. If Bloomberg's assault causes these small shops to go out of business, that is just one step closer to a gun ban by default.
This writer is not going to make a judgment about whether the one shop in Virginia that has settled with Bloomberg should be punished by gun owners in their area. I will leave that to the conscience of individuals that live near the shop. These are not large corporations; they are mom and pop shops with little in the way of financial resources. They may not even be able to depend on their insurance companies to stand by them in the legal battles.
I will say that we must stand up to the bully from New York City. From the very beginning, there have been questions about whether Bloomberg's "investigators" violated the law by lying on the Federal form 4473 when making their so-called "straw purchases". In fact, he has been stonewalling turning over any evidence of wrong doing on the part of gun dealers to BATFE. If the target gun dealers violated the law by knowingly selling to straw purchasers, why have criminal charges not been filed? BATFE should be required to investigate this as well as if Bloomberg's hired guns broke the law and if they did, they should be held accountable.
David Adams
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