A New York State of Mind
by Fred Thompson

When I was working in television, I spent quite a bit of time in New York City. There are lots of things about the place I like, but New York gun laws don’t fall in that category.

Anybody who knows me knows I’ve always cared deeply about the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. So I’ve always felt sort of relieved when I flew back home to where that particular civil liberty gets as much respect as the rest of the Bill of Rights.

Unfortunately, New York is trying, again, to force its ways on the rest of us, this time through the courts. First, they went after U.S. gun manufacturers, seeking through a lawsuit not only money but injunctive control over the entire industry. An act of congress in 2005 blocked, but did not end, that effort.

Now, the same activist federal judge from Brooklyn who provided Mayor Giuliani’s administration with the legal ruling it sought to sue gun makers, has done it again. Last week, he created a bizarre justification to allow New York City to sue out-of-state gun stores that sold guns that somehow ended up in criminal hands in the Big Apple.

The lawsuit has been a lesson in out-of-control government from the get-go. Mayor Bloomberg sent private investigators to make “straw” purchases – illegally buying guns for somebody else. According to the ATF, NY’s illegal “stings” interfered with ongoing investigations of real gun traffickers.

Obviously, New York won’t get much cash out of the few dozen shops being sued in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia; so the purpose can only be political. Some of those sued have already buckled under the financial strain of legal defense and agreed to live by New York City rules.

Ironically, all of this comes at a time of historically low violent crime rates and historically high gun ownership rates nationally. States where it is legal to carry guns are also at an all-time high, up to 40 from 10 in 1987 by NRA reckoning.

While this attack by New York City on the Second Amendment reinforces the importance of appointing judges who apply the law as written, there is another important legal point. Federalism, though usually seen as a protection of the states from the federal government, actually grew out of the need to protect states from other states that interfered in free commerce beyond their borders – as New York is doing today. In this case, we need Federalism to protect states from a big bully in New York City.

The Phantom Menace

In an article found here, Bloomberg blasts the FOP as a "Fringe Organization" and tries to promote his illegal stings in other states. Below is a graphic from the story I found rather ironic.

Whether through just plain ignorance or genuine stupidity, they chose to illustrate "The Gun Menace" with a Beretta Tomcat chambered in .32 ACP. Now the Tomcat is one of the least threatening pocket pistols in existence, just slightly more threatening than anything in .25 ACP or .22LR. And it only holds seven rounds in the magazine, eight if you load one in the snout via the flip up barrel. Yeah, I'd hate to get shot with anything, and any gun is better than no gun, but a .32 ACP round has a better chance of pissing the Bad Guy off than stopping him. As with any bullet though, it's all about shot placement, but bigger is better.

-Yuri

Kaine Criticizes Weapons Giveaway

Raffle Being Held In Government Building in Fairfax

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 15, 2007

RICHMOND, May 14 -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) on Monday questioned the judgment of a gun-rights group in deciding to raffle off weapons and ammunition this week inside a Fairfax County government building.

"I guess it's a free country, and people can make mistakes in judgment all the time," Kaine said. "When I read about a group doing this, it just makes me wonder what makes them tick."

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a group influential with rural lawmakers, is holding a "Bloomberg Gun Giveaway" to protest New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's efforts to crack down on illegal gun sales in Virginia.

The raffle Thursday night at the Mason District Government Center in Annandale has angered Fairfax County officials and heightened attention on Virginia's gun laws a month after a 23-year-old college student from Fairfax fatally shot 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech.

Although Kaine said the gun group showed poor judgment, Virginia's top elected Republican leaders defended the gun giveaway Monday, saying the group is defending the right to own firearms and sending a message that Bloomberg should stay out of the state's affairs.

"It is not the place for government to interfere with a private raffle," Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) said through a spokesman.

House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem) said gun control advocates frequently use government property to hold gun buyback events.

"The same thing happens with groups on the left when they do programs to have guns turned in for prizes or rewards," Griffith said. In this case, he said, "you got law-abiding citizens holding a raffle or contest to give away a product that doesn't violate state or federal laws."

The defense league plans to give away a semiautomatic pistol, a hunting rifle, ammunition and other supplies, including a laser scope. Fairfax County officials said they don't want guns inside a county building, but they can't find a legal reason to deny the group a permit.

The raffle was spurred by New York's decision to file lawsuits against six Virginia gun shops that the city contends sold guns illegally to undercover agents. Bloomberg maintains that illegal guns sales in Virginia contribute to violent crime in New York.

The General Assembly and Kaine approved a law this spring that will make it a felony for New York to conduct future stings in the state without the supervision of Virginia or federal law enforcement officials.

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said more than 2,500 people were awarded tickets to Thursday night's drawing after they spent at least $100 at Bob Moates Sports Shop in Richmond and Old Dominion Gun and Tackle in Danville, the targets of Bloomberg's lawsuits.

Van Cleave said he doesn't understand why Kaine and Fairfax officials are upset.

"They are acting like we are giving guns to criminals. They talk as if anytime a gun is sold, it's going on the street," Van Cleave said. "These guns are going to law-abiding, decent people who won't hurt anyone with them."

In addition to McDonnell, Van Cleave has the backing of the state's other top elected Republican, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. Like McDonnell, Bolling is a possible candidate for governor in 2009.

"The VCDL is doing this as a form of protest against the actions taken by Mayor Bloomberg," Bolling said. "They have every right to lodge such a protest as long as they comply with the letter and the spirit of the law."

Fairfax Supervisor Penelope A. Gross (D-Mason) said she has received dozens of phone calls and e-mails from residents who are appalled that the raffle is taking place in a county building.

Fairfax has asked the General Assembly to allow it and other local governments to ban the possession of guns in public buildings, but lawmakers have refused. County officials can't deny a meeting permit simply for political reasons, Gross said.

"I agree with the governor. It is wrong, but help me find a way to put a stop to it," Gross said. "There is none. I tried."

...clicky...

Undercover Operations May "Sting" Bloomberg

Friday, May 11, 2007

In an effort to end the illegal, covert "Simulated Straw Purchase" stings that anti-gun New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) has been misguidedly promoting of late, Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell (R) recently sent a letter to Bloomberg reminding him that Virginia’s House Bill 2653 - which prohibits gun dealer entrapment schemes such as those orchestrated by the Mayor - will go into effect this summer.

With the new law going into effect in July, Bloomberg and his agents could face legal action and be charged with a felony if they do not cease their dubious "sting" operations.

"While I understand that you are attempting to take steps that you believe may enhance the public safety of the citizens of New York City, such laws are Virginia's duty to enforce," said McDonnell in his letter to the Mayor. "This new law strikes the proper balance between ensuring effective law enforcement and protecting the rights of law-abiding firearms dealers and those of Virginia citizens under the Second Amendment."

In a May 10, Washington Times article, Tucker Martin, a spokesman for Mr. McDonnell’s office, said, "Law-abiding Virginia gun dealers certainly do not deserve to be targeted by private agents intentionally misleading them as to their intentions and motives. This is a courtesy to the mayor. Prior actions of his are now felony offenses in the commonwealth, and he knows this."

Virginia’s state House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the measure, which was signed into law by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) on March 23, 2007.

PA MAYOR TELLS SAF SHE IS QUITTING BLOOMBERG’S ‘DUBIOUS’ COALITION!

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.”