Some years ago, fool that I was, I thought that New York mayor Michael Bloomberg would make a good president. That was before I learned that Bloomberg is one of the foremost advocates of strict gun controls.
At a cost of about $100,000, Bloomberg has sent his investigators to gun shows all over the country to obtain evidence that guns can be easily purchased without any background checks being conducted. Shortly after the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords his investigators showed up at an Arizona gun show and purchased three guns from private dealers without having their backgrounds checked. They also purchased extended magazines like the ones used by Jared Loughner, the Tucson shooter.
Because private dealers are exempt from having to run background checks, one sale was legal as the investigators simply purchased a gun. But the other two were illegal because the investigators informed the dealers that they would probably be unable to pass a background check.
Bloomberg said: “You can still walk into a gun show and buy a 9mm in the same time it would take to buy a hamburger and fries at McDonalds. We have demonstrated how easy it is for anyone to buy a semi-automatic handgun and a high-capacity magazine, no questions asked.”
Bloomberg is being disingenuous or else he is stupid and doesn’t know what he is talking about, and I don’t think he is stupid.
I frequently go to gun shows and from time to time I have purchased guns there. You will find three kinds of dealers at gun shows. There are well established licensed gun dealers who sell mostly brand new guns. There are private dealers who rent space at the show, put up a table, and sell their wares. If it’s guns they’re selling, almost all of those are used firearms. And there are the people who purchase tickets to attend the shows, many of them bringing their personal weapons to sell or trade.
Only the licensed dealers are required to run background checks. My observations over the years indicate that most guns purchased at gun shows are bought from those licensed dealers. And I can assure Mr. Bloomberg that, because of the background checks they run on each buyer, it takes a lot longer to buy a gun from those dealers than it does to buy a burger and fries at McDonalds. If you want to buy a gun, you have to fill out a two-page ATF questionnaire and wait as much as half-an-hour in line before it becomes your turn for the dealer to run that background check on you.
Bloomberg, Chicago’s Richard Daley, Boston's Thomas Menino and other big city mayors would like to eliminate the sale of handguns and military-style firearms to private citizens. A ban on the possession of firearms would only punish law abiding citizens who want to own guns for self-protection because they are not being protected by the mayors’ police forces. The criminal element will always be able to get their grimy hands on guns no matter what controls or restrictions are placed on the purchase or ownership of firearms.
Mr. Bloomberg, stop sticking your nose in the business of Arizona, Texas and other states you don’t like and save the taxpayers their money by keeping your investigators in New York where they belong!
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