Bloomberg Shot Down
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has conducted a private sting operation to halt the flow of illegal guns into New York City, where guns are thankfully banned to most of the public. Using private investigators, the city's wonderful mayor has identified stores in backward southern states and elsewhere that could be persuaded to sell guns they shouldn't, which would end up "on the streets." Everyone applauds the brave mayor's efforts to rid our streets of gun crime.
"A federal judge said that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration did not commit a crime when it sent undercover investigators into gun shops to attempt illegal weapons purchases," according to the AP last year.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Putting an end to nine years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear New York City's request to continue a lawsuit that sought to hold firearms manufacturers responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms. "We are very pleased by today's ruling to not review lower appellate court rulings that dismissed cases based on the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act," said Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
"These baseless lawsuits against responsible, law-abiding companies are the type that Congress intended to prevent by passing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act in 2005." A federal judge threw out the New York lawsuit, originally filed in 2000. Then in April of 2008, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision, saying the new law was constitutional. New York's final recourse was to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court refused the case this week.
Regarding the illegal stings orchestrated in distant states by the maverick mayor, he has been roundly criticized for exceeding his authority, conspiring to break the law, falsely using private citizens as law enforcement officers, and prompted a number of states to enact statutes banning such activity with prison terms and fines for future violations. http://tinyurl.com/cwyvqc.
"Bloomberg's gun sting was a criminal stunt." (Charleston.net); "Mayor Bloomberg is taking the law into his own hands." (NY Post); "U.S. Department of Justice refused to prosecute any of Bloomberg's targets. It told Bloomberg that his actions lacked 'proper law enforcement authority' and opened agents he sent out on such stings to 'potential legal liabilities.'" (Reason). "Gun manufacturers have been sued dozens of times by city and state officials across the country, without success," says the New York Times. The gun dealers attacked in courts with the public's money however do consider that a success.
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