Posted on 07/21/2006 11:27:27 AM PDT by neverdem
2:05 PM EDT Thursday
A Smyrna, Ga., gun shop, backed by privacy advocate and former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, is suing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for $400 million, claiming the media mogul organized an illegal and "nefarious" undercover sting on the small business.
The lawsuit follows Bloomberg's own May lawsuit against the shop, Adventure Outdoors Inc., and 14 other gun dealers. Bloomberg had previously commissioned private investigators armed with hidden cameras to attempt "straw purchases," schemes that had legitimate buyers hand over purchased weapons to others not allowed to own firearms. The mayor released publicly the names of the dealers under investigation, five of which are in Georgia, saying their weapons were used in more than 500 crimes in New York.
Barr announced the lawsuit July 20 in front of a flag-waiving audience of about 80 in downtown Marietta, Ga., drawing cheers when he mentioned Second Amendment rights. Barr was flanked by Adventure Outdoors owner and President Jay Wallace, fellow attorney Edwin Marger, and Wallace's family.
Bloomberg, founder of the news service of the same name, is a gun control advocate and has made the issue a major part of his administration. In his fervor to limit violence, Barr said, the mayor "slandered" his client and conducted "egregious violations" of the law to do so.
In the lawsuit, filed in Cobb County Superior Court, Adventure Outdoors seeks answers from Bloomberg that have allegedly been secret, including how the guns were traced back to the business.
"We do not believe in operating under the cloak of secrecy," said Barr. "We believe in doing things the right way down here."
Barr and Marger painted Bloomberg as an arrogant billionaire intent on destroying the right to bear arms at any cost.
"Mr. Bloomberg feels he is above the law," Marger said. "In fact, he believes he is the law. He believes that his billions and connections gained through the use of those billions make him immune to that which we commoners endure."
Bloomberg claims Adventure Outdoors had sold 21 guns, later used in various crimes in New York between 1994 and 2001, and called the business a "rogue gun dealer." Those comments, which were picked up in national and local media, have affected sales, Barr and Marger claim.
Wallace, meanwhile, said he would not stand to have his company's name "trashed in the public eye."
Gee, that's 3 guns per year on average. Less than 3 if you include the years at both ends of the range.
molehill = mountain
Those are not the only rights he is out to destroy.
I have now become mortified to admit I was born and raised in NYC.
No sweat. Remember that Mayor Bloomingidiot is from MASSHOLECHUSETTS, where he attended high school with anti-American lefty Paul Theroux (of Mosquito Coast fame).
I can't understand how Bloomberg has not yet been booted from the Repub Party.
Good on them. Hope they crush him.
Meanwhile, King Bloomberg doesn't go anywhere without his armed guards, but lets not let the little people defend themselves.
OMG - I think my husband will freak when he finds that out........my husband is originally from there, but the family moved away when he was 7.....
Before we criticize Bloomie too hard, we should remember David Dinkins. Anyone with a healthy aversion to socialism and an understanding of the importance of unfettered RKBA is simply not electable in NYC. We could do a lot worse than Bloomie. (But I hope the gun dealer wins, and gets a nice little chunk of cash from Bloomie.)
I've never understood why he was llowed into it in the first place...........yes, I do, but it is still not an excuse. ($$$$$$$$$$$$)
Unfortunately, I'm finding more and more "republicans" on the local level that just as left-leaning socialists as he is.
The GOP is too obsessed with having "R"-wearing people in office to actually ever give anyone the boot. I sometimes think we'd let Hillary wear the "R" if it meant we got to count her Senate seat in the GOP column.
And folks wonder why Republicans can't seem to capitalize when they hold the Executive and majorities in both houses of Congress. It all comes of wearing that "R" not counting for much anymore.
If Bloomberg can wear it, well, why not Mao? From one to the other is just a short hope down the same socialist road. Political impotence is the final result.
(But I hope the gun dealer wins, and gets a nice little chunk of cash from Bloomie.)
Amen! May they ream that SOB's arse!
And FWIW, these are some mighty fine folks to do bidness with.(me first Glock was purchased there-Smyrna is my old stompin' grounds)
You owe us one MR. Barr after youve taken a few looney turns. Stay relevant my man! Stay relevant!
Because he's not Mark Green.
Naw. It's because he was hugely better than a Mark Green. NYC Repubs knew they were putting forth a moderately liberal democrat, but the choice was between that and allowing Green to walkover.
I agree with you about Dinkins..........
But WHAT??????????????????????????????
As a native New Yorker I know you are correct.........but it still boggles my mind, and I've been out of NYC for 24 years.
A huge percentage of NYC voters still think Dinkins was just dandy, and would eagerly vote for a clone of him. Be thankful we have Bloomie. He has a 3-digit IQ and is honest. I don't agree with a lot of his positions, especially re RKBA, and also re his promotion of things like anti-smoking laws covering private restaurants and bars. But really, we could do a WHOLE lot worse. We're lucky we don't have Sharpton for a mayor.
I'm a strong proponent of the RKBA movement making a monumental effort to EDUCATE Bloomie, instead of just whining about him. He's not stupid by a long shot, but his background has left him with some serious blind spots. Bringing him (and his money) around on this issue would be a major step forward. A long shot no doubt, but much more likely to yield results than whining about him. Even a tiny nudge toward correctness would be a huge step, when someone with Bloomie's money and influence is the nudgee.
Right now there is no way that any candidate advocating a truly Constitutional position on RKBA would stand a chance of getting elected in NYC. That's going to have be changed at the grass roots level, and I haven't seen the slightest effort on the part of any RKBA organization to reach urban blacks on this issue. As long as the community that loses the most members to gun crime is hollering to politicians to "get guns off the street" and blaming the availability of guns for every gun crime, any politician with any interest in getting elected will listen to them. But get that same community singing a different tune, asking why it is that most predominantly black communities have gun laws that make it virtually impossible for law-abiding citizens to own and carry a gun, while most predominantly white communities are allowed to defend themselves, and the politicians will listen and start singing a different tune too. Most of them are parrots at heart :-)
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