Posted on 05/09/2008 6:05:00 PM PDT by yoe
BELLEVUE, WA – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has moved from outrage to atrocity by asking anti-gun activist federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein to ban any reference to the Second Amendment during a civil lawsuit trial beginning May 27 against Georgia gun dealer Jay Wallace, proprietor at Adventure Outdoors.
The New York Sun reported that Bloomberg’s attorneys made the request. Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, said the move clearly shows that Bloomberg has “total disregard not only for the Second Amendment, but also the First.”
Bloomberg’s attorney on this case, Eric Proshansky, has reportedly argued in a brief that “Any references to the Second Amendment or analogous state constitutional provisions are likewise irrelevant” to the upcoming trial.
“This trial is supposed to be held in a federal court, not a kangaroo court,” Gottlieb stated. “What’s next, a request that Judge Weinstein not allow defense witnesses or rebuttal? Why not just dispense with the trial altogether and lynch Mr. Wallace from the limb of a tree out in Central Park?
“The civil prosecution, and un-civil persecution, of Jay Wallace has never really been about the Second Amendment, until right now,” he observed. “And, thanks to Mr. Proshansky’s brief, this trial is suddenly all about the First Amendment as well.
“We are neither surprised nor shocked at Mayor Bloomberg and the city’s attorney for making this move,” Gottlieb added. “This is the kind of behavior one should expect from a billionaire demagogue who considers himself so far above the law that he launched this vigilante campaign against firearms retailers by stepping outside legal channels in the first place. He sent private agents to several states without legal authority, jeopardizing legitimate on-going criminal investigations in the process.
“Now Bloomberg wants a gag order,” he concluded. “Apparently, in Mikey’s world, a fair trial is one in which a defense attorney is muzzled, and the defendant is already guilty until proven innocent. Bloomberg missed his calling. Instead of being mayor of an American city, he should have been the administrator of a gulag.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nations oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.
Bloomberg is a schmuck, always has been, alway will be.
I remember people here defending Bloomberg in ‘04 when I said he was one of the most disgusting authoritarians holding office in America. I wonder where they are now.
Their campaign motto could be "Shut up & Obey!"
Bloomberg is a Stalinist with a bank account.
Does not surprise me in the least.
He has made me embarrassed to say I was born and raised in NYC.
King Bloomboob repealed the Second Amendment in his dreams. Thanks for the ping.
Hear! Hear!
I wonder how he would feel if his guards were disarmed...
What's "little" about him? It's the same billionaire leftist attitude that Elliot Spritzer had. You could tell by the expression on his face that he wished he had the power to disappear all those peons who laughed when he got caught with his hand in the nookie jar.
In his case it seems that not only is arrogant, most likely due to his money, but he seems to confirm that along with arrogance and having money he confirm that he is also a moron who cares for nothing except himself.
Great leader you elected in New York.
You’re stuck with him just don’t whine about it though he was your choice.
Damn! Bloomberg is indefensible. He's as bad as any leftist there is. When is the next election for NYC mayor anyway? I'll be happy to see him gone, regardless of what he's replaced with.
That’s a winner!
Actually I have heard some punnets said that Barak is going to pick Bloomberg as his VP candidate.
No one has any say in where they were born and probably not much more about where they were raised. Bloomboob is not a New Yorker by birth. That's one of NYC's biggest problems - all the idiots and freaks that move here.
Amen, FRiend.
Same here; Gravesend, Brooklyn from birth to a month before my 19th birthday.
I have no opinion about whether a ban would be appropriate, but this claim is disingenuous. There's no free speech inside a courtroom, where parties are routinely banned from mentioning irrelevant topics that might nonetheless sway the jury.
I do find it strange that a city is suing a gun shop in Georgia.
I have another question. How do all of these federal gun cases in New York end up in front of LBJ appointee Jack Weinstein who is absolutely no friend of gun owners? There's 25 judges there. Jack's a senior judge, and I'm sure he's not the only one to do civil tort cases.
Still, Mr. Renzulli said he did not plan to oppose the city’s request regarding references to the Second Amendment. Mr. Renzulli, who has defended suits against the gun industry in Judge Weinstein’s courtroom before, said that in the past the defense has struck a deal with the plaintiffs on the matter: Lawyers for the gun industry won’t mention the Bill of Rights to the jury, if the plaintiffs don’t mention the National Rifle Association.
“We usually say we’re not talking about the Second Amendment and you’re not talking about the NRA as a huge lobbying group that controls the legislature,” Mr. Renzulli said.
He said he expected a similar agreement to be struck in the Adventure Outdoors case.
And did Congress ever pass that bill protecting gun manufacturers? Does it cover sellers too?
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