Courage in Face of a Gun: Moronic Editorial

Caught this at SayUncle where the editor was taken to task for inaccurate reporting on the type of the gun. Please go and read.

I'll take them to task for their blatant distortion of facts regarding the politics of the gun.

The gun forces will stop at nothing to keep the pipeline open, and nothing shows their political muscle more dramatically than a legislative dirty trick that stripped New York City of its last great hope for holding the gun merchants to account.

Mayor Bloomberg, who has made fighting illegal weapons a centerpiece of his second term, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton and the state's entire congressional delegation were played for suckers when someone - no one takes responsibility - slipped poisonous language into a federal budget bill in November.

Largely unnoticed until recently, the 45-word provision all but kills New York's chances of successfully suing gun manufacturers and distributors who allow their wares to leak into the black market. How so? By barring city lawyers from using their most powerful evidence: federal records identifying the worst of the death merchants.

The law in question originated with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was kept alive by Bloomberg. Thanks to Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein, the case appeared likely to become the gun industry's worst nightmare. So the NRA turned to Washington.

Pardon me, but what do you mean by "death merchants?" Are you referring to the firearms merchants or the criminals?

Late last year, the Republican-led Congress voted to immunize the industry from such legal action, but Weinstein ruled the city's case could continue anyway. That now turns out to be a hollow victory because at the very end of the legislative process, without public discussion, an NRA lackey sneaked a clause into the budget bill forbidding the use in court of data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that trace the origins of guns used in crimes.

The statistics are devastating. In 1998, for example, 57% of the crime guns were traced back to just 1.2% of all gun shops. No wonder the NRA is desperate to keep such damning numbers from a jury.

The city's lawyers must now fight with both hands tied behind their backs. We wish them luck. If New York is to win the larger battle for safer streets, however, our representatives in Washington must learn from this slimy episode, keep a sharper eye on the NRA's operatives and ensure that nothing like this ever happens again

Oh, he means the Firearms merchants. Note, that licensing of the dealers and audit is in the ATFE's scope of responsibilities. Why they haven't come down on thost 1.2% of dealers is something I don't know. But, access to those records would merely open the lawyers another opportunity to create litigation to punish the firearms industry for selling a legal product rather than focusing on stopping the crime at its cause.

Funny though, this federal law is based on the beliefs of the American people, not the NYCity Gun Grabbers. Laws for the whole country must take into account all citizens, not just the few that whine the loudest.

"Slimy episode?" Stupid editorial.