BELLEVUE, WA – Williamsport, PA Mayor Mary B. Wolf has quit New
York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns”
coalition, telling the Second Amendment Foundation in a letter that
she joined in hopes of finding “community based solutions to reduce
gun violence.”
However, in a letter to Bloomberg – a copy of which Mayor Wolf
forwarded to SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb – she told Bloomberg, “I
have learned that the Coalition may be working on issues that
conflict with legal gun ownership and that some actions on your
behalf are dubious.”
Mayor Wolf joins several other mayors who have withdrawn from
Bloomberg’s coalition. Last month, after Bloomberg’s office was
advised by the Justice Department against conducting any more “gun
shop sting” operations, Gottlieb sent an open letter to all mayors
who had joined the anti-gun group, urging them to reconsider their
involvement, which might be associated with Bloomberg’s vigilante
anti-gun activities.
“I am grateful that Mayor Wolf took a second look at Bloomberg’s
coalition,” Gottlieb stated, “and that she thoughtfully advised SAF
of her decision. Like several other mayors who think for themselves
and the constituents who are their friends and neighbors, Mayor
Wolf has demonstrated the kind of leadership that will set her
apart from those who have been beguiled by Bloomberg’s media hype.”
In her letter to Gottlieb, Mayor Wolf said that, in her opinion,
“It was always clear that licensed gun dealers, sportsmen, gun
collectors and other similarly situated individuals were not part
of the problem…”
Meanwhile, in her letter to Bloomberg, Mayor Wolf was
straightforward, noting, “The intent of the coalition was well-
founded but current initiatives seem counterproductive to…reduce
the criminal misuse of firearms.”
“It takes a special quality and a certain amount of political
courage to go against the current of political correctness and
media favoritism,” Gottlieb said. “Hers is the example that fellow
mayors ought to follow, not Bloomberg’s.”