Laws & Rights
What Do America’s Anti-Gun Mayors Have in Common?

Besides terrible fashion sense, that is?ย (Image courtesy NSSF. Disrespectful caption courtesy Mo Rockwell.)
Hey, remember Mike Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns”?
If you don’t remember “MAIG,” you can certainly be forgiven; after all, it was founded by Mike Bloomberg, whose triple claims to fame include banning 20-oz. sodas, failing at elections, and loving Dick’s. Back in the early ’00s, Bloomie first tried his hand at imposing New York City-style gun control on the rest of America by founding an organization called Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The trouble with MAIG was that it was every bit as popular as Bloomberg himself … by which we mean that he simply added mayors’ names to the organization without their permission. After having this faux pas make the news (well, at least the news outlets that he doesn’t own) Mayors Against Illegal Guns was quietly folded into Bloomberg’s next try at an anti-gun club, Everytown.
America’s anti-gun mayors just sent a rather interesting list of demands to the Senate. Bloomie’s name isn’t on it because he isn’t a mayor anymore, but chances are quite good that he bankrolled everything from the pencil to the podium. The names that are on it have some interesting things in common. First, they represent cities where every citizen who can leave is doing so. Second, they overwhelmingly have a “D” after their names. Third, no matter how much they share with him ideologically and how willing they are to accept his money, none of them want their picture taken with Mike Bloomberg. SAD!
For a more thorough (and somewhat more polite) analysis, we’re turning it over to the inimitable Larry Keane of the NSSF!
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MAYORS ON GUN CONTROL LETTER HAVE ONE BIG THING IN COMMON
Dozens of mayors from Americaโs biggest cities are demanding the U.S. Senate pass more gun control.
โWe write to urge the Senate to pass during the lame duck session gun safety legislation that has passed the Houseโฆ,โ the mayorsโ letterย states.
An answer to the crime problem plaguing these cities might not be found in Congress. Rather the mayors should look closer to home for solutions. Or better yet, take a good long look in the mirror.
ย The First Demand
Theย letterย was sent by The United States Conference of Mayors and was signed by 74 mayors. They made two demands of U.S. Sens. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). First, they want the Senate to pass S. 736, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, which would ban an entire class of firearms โ Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) โ that are commonly-owned and commonly-used. Industry data estimates there are more thanย 24.4 millionย in circulation since 1990, with ownershipย explodingย in recent years.
Enacting the ban on MSRs, or the semiautomatic centerfire rifles the mayors misleadingly deem โassault weapons,โ would not โin any way infringe on Second Amendment rights,โ the mayors suggest. They claim two-thirds of Americans support banning MSRs but The Reloadย reportedย thatโs flat false โ revealing less thanย 50 percentย of Americans support such a ban. Thatโs likely because more law-abiding Americans than ever before โ including women and minorities โ have purchased MSRs to use for self-defense, recreational shooting and hunting. In any event, Constitutional rights are not decided by a popularity contest.
The FBIโsย Uniform Crime Reportย shows more murders were committed by individuals using knives, fists and clubs than by those using any rifle โ not just MSRs like AR-15s. The Senate bill would likely not even receive 50 votes, let alone the 60 votes required, as Sens. John Tester (D-Mont.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) have repeatedly voiced opposition.
The Second Demand
The letterโs second demand is for the Senate to pass a bill enacting a universal background check system to track all firearm transfers, including private ones. The mayors say this is โclosing loopholesโ and stopping buyers from โcircumventing the law.โ Those two phrases are oxymorons as the law is the law as written โ itโs not loopholes or circumvention.
The legislation, S. 529, The Background Check Expansion Act, has severe legal problems as its implementation requires a national firearm registry. Thatโs specificallyย prohibitedย under the 1986 Gun Control Act and the 1993 Brady Act. It is unlawful because history teaches us that registration is a necessary precursor to confiscation by the government.
The legislation would also, โaid law enforcementโs ability to trace crime guns.โ They want to repeal theย Tiahrt Amendmentย which restricts public access to sensitive, law enforcement-only firearm tracing data. This restriction is supported by Congress, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and law enforcement groups such as the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) because it secures sensitive tracing information which would jeopardize ongoing criminal investigations and put the lives of law enforcement officers, cooperating retailers and witnesses at risk. They also fail to mention that their own law enforcement agencies have access to trace data for their cities, that they can share data with other agencies and that ATF has joint task forces and regularly shares intelligence with state and local law enforcement often derived from examining trace data.
Who Signed?
The signers are a whoโs who of gun control supporters, with one glaring similarity. Democrats make up 92 percent, or 68 of the 74 letter co-signers. The mayors of several of theย Top 10ย cities which had the most Americans fleeing them in recent years signed, including San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Chicago and Detroit. Surging crime and soft-on-criminal policies have been a significant issue in those cities.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed. He ran his campaign on getting tough on criminals but has insteadย deflected actionย and pushed for national gun control.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler signed the letter. His city descended into chaos and saw a federal courthouseย set on fire by rioters. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell signed too. Criminals in Seattle under previous mayor Jenny Durkan set up a โCapitol Hill Autonomous Zone,โ or CHAZ, where law enforcement was prohibited. Thatโs where โRaz the Warlordโ wasย captured on videoย handing out AR-15s from his Teslaโs trunk, violating several of Seattleโs existing gun laws.
Chicagoโs Lori Lightfoot has been too busy makingย dance music videosย to address the surging crime problem plaguing the Windy City and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo already passed gun ownership restrictions on residents even though he admitted to CNN his plans wonโt address the crime problem. โSkeptics will say that criminals wonโt comply. Theyโre right,โ heย said.
Several of the mayors who signed the gun control letter come from Red states where voters have approved Constitutional carry laws in the past years and expanded the ability of law-abiding Americans to purchase legal firearms, including MSRs, for self-defense.
What the mayors refuse to accept is that criminals donโt follow their laws. They should focus their efforts closer to home and hold criminals accountable instead of running to Washington, D.C., and passing the buck.
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