Bloomberg would offer a gun-control candidate his congratulations, if not his support
Bloomberg in Rockaway. via NYC.gov
4:20 pm Aug. 6, 20122
Yesterday, shortly before a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin that left six dead, Mayors Against Illegal Guns unveiled a national ad campaign demanding President Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney take a stance on gun control.
Bloomberg has been sounding that note relentlessly since the Aurora shootings, and the organization he co-founded and underwrites, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, has even launched a petition to that effect, DemandaPlan.org, that has collected more than 125,000 signatures.
Today, at a Parks Department ribbon cutting in the Rockaways, a reporter wondered whether a candidate's articulation of a gun-control plan might actually move the mayor to endorse him.
Though gun control is an important matter to Bloomberg, the mayor also has other hobbyhorses. He demurred.
"I don't know what officially I'm gonna do yet," said Bloomberg. "But I can tell you I would be the first one to congratulate them, and to thank them and to tell everybody they're doing what's right for the country."
Related, Bloomberg took a lukewarm stance on a new package of statewide legislation crafted by State Senator Michael Gianaris and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence that would, according to the Daily News, limit handgun purchases to one per month, institute a 10-day waiting period, and require background checks for all gun sales (even private ones).
"I mean, his heart seems to be in the right place," said the mayor, of the senator.
"The only other thing that they could do which would really make a difference would be be pass a law allowing us to track the shell from the shell casings and see where the bullets come from," said Bloomberg, referring to a microstamping bill that's stalled in the legislature. "That would make a big difference ... If Gianaris wanted to improve his bill, that's the direction I would go."
Bloomberg has a history of using his support, and financial wherewithal, to reward office-holders for taking action in support of his agenda, as when he raised money for four Republican state senators who voted for same-sex marriage in New York.
He recently announced that he is holding a fund-raiser for the National Rifle Association-backed U.S. senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who is running for re-election against a liberal Democratic challenger, Elizabeth Warren.
Bloomberg explained that he was backing Brown because Brown opposed his fellow Republicans on "concealed carry reciprocity" legislation, despite the fact that Brown "is not good on guns generally."
In New York State, the police have no duty to provide police protection to any particular individual. The Courts in New York have held that "generally, a municipality may not be held liable for the failure to provide police protection because the duty to provide such protection is owed to the public at large, rather than to any particular individual" (Conde v. City of New York, 24 AD3d 595, 596 [2005]; see Cuffy v. City of New York, 69 NY2d 255, 260 [1987]).
As the Chair of the Public Safety Committee of Manhattan Community Board 12. I will be holding a Public Hearing in September 2012 on NYS Senate Bill S1427 & S1863 with an emphasis on self-defense education & firearm training for women.
Bill S1427 PURPOSE: This proposed constitutional amendment would provide within the New York State Constitution for a right of the people to keep and bear arms for traditionally recognized purposes
Bill S1863 PURPOSE: This legislation would remove a gun licensing officer's ability to deny or restrict the issuance of licenses to law abiding citizens who have successfully undergone the state's strict application process and appropriate New York State and Federal Bureau of Investigations fingerprint background check required under law. In addition, this bill will conform New York State law to current ATF requirements regarding background checks for firearms transfers.
September 12, 2012 at 6:30 PM at Isabella, 515 Audubon Avenue New York, NY 10040. If you live in New York State feel free to take a look at the information that I will be presenting as well as sign my on-line petition included at the link below. I hope that you will come out and support me as I support you. Fraternally.
http://cavalierknight.com/documents.html
Senator Gianaris talks of using California Law for a model. I lived in California for 18 years before coming back and complied with their gun laws. A few (very few) aspects of it are sensible, to be true. However, California requires NO license for handgun possession in one's home or business nor is one required to transport handguns (for lawful purposes) in a locked container. California also has State Pre-emption law. NYS should first repeal the Sullivan Act, together with PL Sections 265 and 400 and pass State Pre-emption (translation: NYC Gun Law and Title 38 is overridden) before overhauling Gun Control to emulate California and score more points with the Brady Campaign. CA gun laws may be easily verified on the CA Attorney General website (Firearms Division). This is a very well constructed site.