Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN Legal & Legislation

Where's The Cotton Candy? Bloomberg Takes Anti-Gun Sideshow On The Road

Friday, February 18, 2011

No one can say that New York City mayor and anti-gun gadfly Michael Bloomberg doesn't support getting Americans back to work -- at least those who don't operate snow removal equipment in New York City. But those who are concerned about global warming may take issue with how he's going about it. During an interview with ABC-TV's George Stephanopolous this week, Bloomberg announced he has hired a driver to tour the country in a large, fossil-fuel-burning truck, towing a billboard that other Bloomberg jobbers have covered with a poster or paint job claiming that 34 people are murdered with guns each day.

Implying that there is a single solution to the entire problem of criminal gun use, the billboard refers onlookers to Bloomberg's www.fixgunchecks.org website, which urges that federal law "require a background check for every gun sale in America."

To be honest, Bloomberg's job stimulus package could go even further. He could re-hire the people who gussied up his billboard to do so again -- but to get the facts straight this time:

* According to data reported by the FBI in December of last year, the average number of people murdered with guns each day is 26, not 34.

* The number may be even smaller than 26, because the FBI's figures are based upon police reports, which do not (and, realistically, cannot) reflect the final disposition of cases in the judicial system. Criminologist Gary Kleck has concluded that between six and 13 percent of firearm-related homicides reported as murders by the FBI are self-defense homicides.

* Bloomberg's incorrect "34" claim, which appeared on the left side of the billboard during the ABC story, deals only with only one side of the story. If Bloomberg were interested in being fair, the right side of the billboard would note the number of lives saved because of gun ownership by non-criminals. On that question, Prof. Kleck has written that "available evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that civilian ownership and defensive use of guns deter violent crime and reduce burglar-linked injuries." Among other studies supporting that conclusion, Kleck noted the landmark Wright-Rossi study of imprisoned felons, conducted as part of a multi-subject study for the National Institute of Justice, which determined that 40 percent of felons had decided not to commit one or more crimes, out of fear that their prospective victims were armed.

* Kleck has also concluded from a study of National Crime Victimization Survey data that "[R]obbery and assault victims who used a gun to resist were less likely to be attacked or to suffer an injury than those who used any other methods of self-protection or those who did not resist at all," possibly preventing themselves or others from being added to the FBI's annual murder victim tally.

Bloomberg also pretends that all murders committed with guns could be prevented by requiring a NICS check on "every gun sale in America." After all, Bloomberg's own "Blueprint for Federal Action on Illegal Guns" notes that 150,000 guns were stolen in 2008, it proposes that BATFE require dealers -- all of whom are already required to submit gun customers to NICS checks -- to report multiple sales of [long] guns, and it notes that straw purchasers -- who could pass a NICS check for a non-dealer gun purchase just as easily as they already do for purchases from dealers -- continue to account for a large share of guns that end up in criminals' hands. Bloomberg even says on his gun control group's website that of guns used to commit murder, "most of them are purchased or possessed illegally."

Bloomberg's billboard truck is reminiscent of the New York City "Death Clock," placed in Times Square by the founder of a brokerage firm in New Jersey. Praised by anti-gun newspapers around the country, the clock was removed the following year, not long before a federal district judge ruled that the individual and his firm had "conducted 'a massive and continuing fraud on its customers, and issued a $71.5 million civil fraud judgment against them.'"

Despite his obsession with telling America what he thinks about a wide variety of issues, Bloomberg told ABC that he had no plans to run for president in 2012. But that may be as truthful as the claims made on his truck.

TRENDING NOW
Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes General Assembly and Semi-Auto Ban Temporarily Removed from Calendar

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Colorado: Mandatory Storage Bill Passes General Assembly and Semi-Auto Ban Temporarily Removed from Calendar

In a temporary reprieve for Colorado gun owners, the semi-auto ban HB24-1292 has been removed from the calendar. But we cannot let our guard down as gun control advocates can bring it up for a vote at ...

The U.S. Supreme Court Looks at Government “Blacklists”

News  

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court Looks at Government “Blacklists”

Much of the attention this past week in the United States Supreme Court was the oral arguments in National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, No. 22-842, a First Amendment case on whether government officials ...

25 years and one PLCAA Later, Chicago is Still Harassing Gunmakers

News  

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

25 years and one PLCAA Later, Chicago is Still Harassing Gunmakers

On March 19, the city of Chicago filed suit against handgun manufacturer Glock. Seeking to shift responsibility for the city’s woeful governance, Chicago’s lawsuit blames the popular firearm manufacturer for the third-party criminal misuse of ...

Washington: Governor Signs Anti-Gun Legislation

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Washington: Governor Signs Anti-Gun Legislation

Today, Governor Inslee signed five anti-gun bills into law that were recently passed by the Washington State Legislature. The bills include:

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Passes Committee and Sensitive Places Bill Hearing Rescheduled for Today!

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Colorado: Semi-Auto Ban Passes Committee and Sensitive Places Bill Hearing Rescheduled for Today!

Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on House Bill 24-1292, the semi-auto ban, that lasted over 12 hours where hundreds of patriotic Coloradans overloaded the committee with opposition testimony. The hearing concluded with an ...

NRA Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Hear Antonyuk v. James

News  

Second Amendment  

Monday, March 25, 2024

NRA Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Hear Antonyuk v. James

In response to the NRA’s victory in Bruen, which secured every American’s right to carry arms, NY passed the “Concealed Carry Improvement Act,” severely restricting carry throughout the state. The 2nd Circuit upheld many of ...

Pennsylvania: Senate Committee Passes Full Inclusion Sunday Hunting

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Pennsylvania: Senate Committee Passes Full Inclusion Sunday Hunting

On Wednesday, the Senate Game & Fisheries Committee voted 7-4 to pass Senate Bill 67 to the Senate floor for a vote. 

California: DOJ Proposes Emergency Rule that Reauthorizes NRA Instructors

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

California: DOJ Proposes Emergency Rule that Reauthorizes NRA Instructors

On Monday, March 25th, the California Department of Justice published an emergency rulemaking package proposing to amend the Carry Concealed Weapons DOJ Certified Instructors regulations. Under the proposed rulemaking, NRA Certified Instructors would once again ...

Grassroots Spotlight: Michigan Grassroots

Take Action  

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Grassroots Spotlight: Michigan Grassroots

It's been a busy start to the year in the Wolverine State, as the Michigan NRA-ILA Grassroots Team has been out alerting and educating members and supporters on the critical changes in gun laws and working to stop ...

Kentucky: Credit Card Data Privacy Bill Passed Into Law

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Kentucky: Credit Card Data Privacy Bill Passed Into Law

Today, Governor Andy Beshear let HB 357, the Merchant Category Code ban legislation pass into law without his signature. Your NRA would like to thank Representatives Derek Lewis (R, H-90), Michael Meredith (R, H-19), and Senator ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.