NWV News - NYC Mayor Bloomberg sued for documents about shady gun control activities

NYC MAYOR BLOOMBERG SUED FOR DOCUMENTS ABOUT SHADY GUN CONTROL ACTIVITIES

By NWV News Writer Jim Kouri
Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
October 15, 2013
© 2013 NewsWithViews.com

A top government watchdog group filed a special lawsuit against New York City's outspoken mayor regarding records and documents related to his alleged anti-gun activities and alliances, according to the watchdog's report on Thursday.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan Judicial Watch reported that it filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) lawsuit with the New York State Supreme Court requesting that the office of New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg be ordered by a judge "to produce all records of communications between the Office of the Mayor, the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

“We have good reason to suspect that New York taxpayers have been forced to foot the bill for Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-gun group,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

“We have records showing that other municipalities also took part of his anti-gun lobbying efforts. And it is well past time for the public to have a full accounting from Mayor Bloomberg about MAIG taxpayer-funded activities. Given the document cover-up, it looks like Mayor Bloomberg has something to hide,” Fitton alleges.

In August, another mayor in New York State declared that he backed out of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Mayor Brian Maher of Walden, N.Y., stated that he was duped into joining and that the group was only interested in using his name and position to attack the rights of legal gun owners.

When he was asked to sign a petition calling for “safer communities,” he didn’t think he was signing up to join a group that would aggressively pursue anti-gun legislation, according to Mayor Maher.

The FOIL suit, the state's version of the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requested that a judge order Mayor Bloomberg's office to produce records of a Jan. 9, 2013, meeting in which MAIG representatives, Biden, and Attorney General Eric Holder participated. (Judicial Watch v. Office of the Mayor - No. 15913412013)

New York Mayor Bloomberg is a co-founder of MAIG, which advocates strict gun control laws nationwide. Despite the refusal of the Bloomberg office to respond to the FOIL request, Judicial Watch states that its investigators have uncovered much about New York mayor's anti-gun operation.

For example, the MAIG web site quotes Mayor Bloomberg as saying:

“Today, we announced the first-ever national investigation into illegal online gun buyers, and the results are startling. In the digital age, convicted felons, domestic abusers, and other dangerous people who are legally barred from buying guns can do so online with little more than a phone number or email address. As our investigation shows, thousands of criminals and other prohibited purchasers are doing just that. It’s time for Washington to take immediate and critical steps – and get serious about this issue.”

Though the agreements between MAIG and the recipients stipulate that “no portion of the grant may be used to support lobbying activities,” a Memorandum of Understanding between MAIG and the city of Orlando uncovered by Judicial Watch some allegedly suspicious requirements.

Besides the gun-control efforts occurring in New York, gun-rights advocates in congress are attacking the Obama administration, as well.

In a letter he released on Thursday, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., blasted the Obama administration's signing of the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), according to gun rights expert John Snyder, who serves on the advisory board of the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

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Sen. Moran's letter addressed President Barack Obama directly and he is inviting other members of the U.S. Senate to join him in his fight against global gun control as co-signers to his letter, Snyder noted.

Sen. Moran noted in his biting letter: "The treaty was adopted by a procedure which violates a red line laid down by your own administration. In October 2009, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that the U.S. supported the negotiations of the treaty only by 'the rule of consensus decision-making.' But in April 2013, after the treaty failed to achieve consensus, it was adopted by majority vote in the U.N. General Assembly. We fear that this capitulation has done great damage to the diplomatic credibility of the United States."