Guiliani, Schumer, Brady, other Lefties
Don't trust New Yorkers with your guns. Hitlery, Giuliani, Bloomberg, all are known enemies of the Second.
Posted on 06/19/2007 2:57:57 PM PDT by neverdem
McClatchy Newspapers
Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Kansas and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are waging a gunfight.
It's not quite pistols at 20 paces; it's more like political sniping via long distance.
Their feud is over an amendment that Tiahrt wrote in 2003 that puts strict limits on how broadly the government can share gun-tracing data. The information identifies the original dealer and buyer of a weapon used in a crime.
Tiahrt and others say the restrictions are necessary because disclosure could reveal names of undercover officers and informants or tip off targets involved in investigations related to those weapons.
Bloomberg and more than 200 other mayors counter that the measure handcuffs their anti-crime efforts where illegal guns are involved because they cannot trace their source.
"That's why trace data is so important in the post-9/11 era," said John Feinblatt, Bloomberg's criminal justice coordinator. "Why wouldn't you let cops connect the dots?"
The debate has grown testy. Now Tiahrt wonders about the "motive" behind Bloomberg's strong stand beyond just getting "guns off the street."
And Feinblatt questions whom Tiahrt is "trying to protect" with a rule that appears to shield illegal gun dealers from exposure.
Their talks didn't start out this way back in January. Then it was all sweetness and light. Bloomberg gave Tiahrt a copy of his autobiography in which he wrote, "Thanks for all you do to keep us safe!"
Tiahrt, meanwhile, acknowledged that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was interpreting his amendment, which has to be renewed annually, too narrowly in some cases. He said he was open to limited changes to create more access.
The mayors' chief complaint was that the bureau gives cities access only to the data for a specific crime. They wanted more, including information beyond the jurisdiction of where a crime occurred so they can identify patterns in regional gun trafficking.
But negotiations broke down in April when an impatient Bloomberg and other mayors applied pressure by running anti-Tiahrt TV ads in Wichita -- rejected by KWCH, KSNW and KSAS.
"We worked in good faith, talking weekly, until he decided to run ads," Tiahrt said. "He decided I was moving too slowly for him."
Bloomberg's aggressiveness stems from a belief by New York officials that many illegal guns found on their streets were purchased elsewhere.
Feinblatt said, "The mayor basically said we can't stand by and let it get worse every year without our voice being heard."
The city has sued some dealers. Bloomberg has also dispatched private investigators with hidden cameras to gun stores in other states to record their attempts to make illegal purchases.
Virginia's attorney general was not pleased when several showed up recently. The Justice Department has also warned the city about using people who are not law enforcement agents for criminal justice purposes.
Jim Pasco, Fraternal Order of Police executive director, called it "a fit of mayoral vigilantism to muck around in cases looking to seek civil remedies in criminal cases. It's just standing the law on its head."
Bloomberg and Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston started the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition with law enforcement support, including some FOP chapters.
Ted Street, Illinois FOP president, wrote to Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of his state that the Tiahrt amendment "has functioned to limit effective law enforcement action against corrupt gun dealers and the traffickers they supply."
Bloomberg is a billionaire whose financial media empire bears his name. A Democrat-turned-Republican, he won re-election two years ago by 20 points, history's largest margin for a GOP mayoral contender in New York.
Recently, he has met with another maverick Republican, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, to discuss the 2008 presidential contest. Both have been mentioned as possible independent candidates.
Tiahrt came to Congress with the "Republican revolution" class of 1994, which broke a lot of political furniture when it took over Capitol Hill. He said Bloomberg does not seem to grasp how things work up there.
"He's a very ambitious man who was CEO of a very successful company and mayor," he said. "New York City is like a kingdom. I don't relish being the educator to a man who's used to getting his own way."
Reach David Goldstein at 202-383-6105, or dgoldstein@mcclatchydc.com.
Bloomberg is still a Democrat;the Republicans are stupid to keep accepting these double agents like Guiliani and Bloomberg.
Bloomberg's an anti gun a-hole.
The sweetest thing that can happen here is it all blows up in Bloombergs face and NYC’s gun laws go the way of DC’s gun laws.
At that point Bloomberg would go (further) insane and might just try for a dictatorship of NYC.
Amen.
When a single Democrat goes off the Liberal reservation (on any issue), the party purges him - immediately.
Look what happened to Lieberman.
The GOP can take its "big tent" and shove it down the same hole they can put that Amnesty Bill.
That means he'd shoot you dead for trying to take his stuff.
That does not mean he believes you have a right to shoot him dead when he tries to take your stuff.
You mean he’s not Dictator of NYC? Someone better tell him; he obviously hasn’t heard.
Off topic-sorta. I just got my 'Mule Ear' beautiful......
bump
.40 cal?
Naw, 12 ga. model 1878 side-by-side. It's a birthday present. Hubby brought it home about and hour ago.
He ain't a Democrat and he ain't a Republican. Other terms I've heard for him, however, I shall not dispute. ;-)
NUTS to both of em! The census is supposed to be a count not a demographic study, social security was supposed to be temporary, and “...shall not be infringed..” means just that.
Ruefully...
Another rino gun grabber gone. Oh happy day!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Good taste, you and your husband.
Thanks. :-)
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