Free Republic

A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled on Friday that the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg did not break the law in conducting sting operations meant to catch out-of-state gun dealers making illegal sales. The ruling, by Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak of Federal District Court, followed lawsuits brought by the city against the dealers in the mayor’s campaign against illegal gun trafficking. In 2006, the city sent teams of private investigators to five states, where they posed as gun buyers. They focused on stores whose guns had been linked to more than 500 crimes in New York City from...

New York City won a significant victory this week in its civil suit against the firearms industry, winning the right to information that could help prove its claim that the industry closes its eyes to the way guns get into the hands of criminals. On Wednesday, a federal magistrate ruled that the city was entitled to federal data that traces the path of guns used in crimes, overruling objections by the Justice Department. Lawyers say that without the data the city would have difficulty proving its claim that the gun industry's marketing and distribution practices amount to a public nuisance....