Not to be too blunt about this, but we think New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a twit. Don’t Take Your Gun to Bloomberg’s Town

Not to be too blunt about this, but we think New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a twit.

Okay, he’s the eighth richest man in America, as ranked by the Forbes 400.  He’s still a twit.  He’s been elected Mayor of New York twice.  Still a twit.  Politically, he has been a Democrat, a Republican and is currently a self-identified Independent.  Democrat twit, Republican twit, Independent twit, a political pilgrim’s progress of twittery.

Now he wants to be Mayor for a third term.  Never mind that the citizens of New York City voted twice for a limit to two terms.  In Bloomberg’s never humble opinion, New York needs him in this time of crisis, and he must answer his own call no matter what laws have to be overturned.

He introduced a bill in the city council to facilitate his third term.  The bill, not coincidentally, included third terms for city council members.  It passed in October.  Bloomberg called it the “right choice,” which was actually reported by reporters.  Twit.

Changing laws and rules and regulations to suit Bloomberg’s twittish nanny vision of health, welfare and good social order are a hallmark of his reign.  No target has obsessed Bloomberg more than guns.  His remarkably nuanced philosophy is, “I don’t know why people carry guns.  Guns kill people.”  This, too, has been reported by reporters.

Bloomberg is so obsessed with guns that he has sued more than two dozen gun dealers in states outside his jurisdiction for selling guns that may have found their way to New York; he founded the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, and he has actively funded congressional candidates who espouse gun control.

One of Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-gun initiatives was to convince the New York state legislature, in 2007, to increase the penalty for carrying a loaded, unlicensed gun to a mandatory minimum 3.5 years, up to 15 years, a C felony.  (Unlicensed in-home possession is a misdemeanor.)

It is, of course, possible for a law-abiding citizen to obtain a handgun license in New York City, and the city of roughly 8.3 million is so accommodating that a grand total of 2,291 “full carry” licenses are in effect – to the likes of Donald Trump, Robert De Niro and Don Imus.  (Good luck in getting yours if you’re just a regular person living in Mayor Bloomberg’s town.)

Enter then, in the wee morning hours of November 29, one Plaxico Burress.  Burress, we are reliably told by people who know such things, is a football player for the New York Giants who caught the winning touchdown pass in last season’s Super Bowl.  There he was, in the Latin Quarter nightclub, when, seemingly trying to prevent a spilled drink, he accidentally shot himself in the thigh with a unlicensed Glock 40 carried in the waistband of his trousers.

Naturally, Mayor Bloomberg wants to throw the 3.5-year mandatory minimum book that he himself authored at Burress.  He wants to prosecute the hospital that treated the gunshot wound without reporting it to the police.  He’s even making noises about castigating the New York Giants for teammates failure to report the shooting.

Can you say “show trial?”

We make no brief for the intelligence of anyone carrying a ready-to-fire Glock in the waistband of his or her trousers anywhere, anytime, law or no law.  We make no brief for anyone who even accidentally enhances Mayor Bloomberg’s anti-gun soapbox screeching.

We would, somewhat tenuously, point out that Mr. Burress may have believed he had reason, however ill-considered, for having the gun.  According to the Hartford Courant, “Early last Tuesday, Burress’ teammate Steve Smith was robbed at gunpoint in front of his home, apparently by the driver who took him to his gated community in Clifton, N.J., a league source said.  Shortly after being dropped off, Smith, a second-year receiver, had a gun pointed to his head and was ordered to give up his jewelry and cash, which he did.”

Regardless, Mayor Bloomberg, twit-in-chief of New York City, has his law, and wants it pressed in Mr. Burress’ case, even though most such charges have thus far been reduced to misdemeanors by pragmatic prosecutors.  Among those who have been charged under the felony provision, less than 10 percent have been convicted according to one close observer, which may actually say a lot about the common sense of New York jurors (although there has yet been no comprehensive review of the circumstances of those cases).

Thus, the perennial battle over gun rights continues unabated, as it will as long as twits like Bloomberg maintain their power, even as they thwart the will of the people to do it.

December 4, 2008
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