Mayors invoke terrorism for gun control argument

CBS/AP

A coalition of U.S. mayors launched a television ad Tuesday entreating Congress to shore up loopholes in U.S. gun control laws, which they argue allow "terrorists and other criminals to easily buy firearms and explosives."

Founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the group, called Mayors Against Illegal Guns, consists of more than 600 mayors from across the country and aims to "stop criminals from getting guns while also protecting the rights of citizens to freely own them," according to its website.  

Part of that mission, the group says, involves closing regulatory loopholes that have been routinely exploited by criminals - and terrorists - to obtain firearms.

The new ad calls on Congress to address the "terror gap" that, as the 30-second spot's narrator intones, "let[s] terrorists buy guns."

Featuring a clip from an al Qaeda propaganda video, in which American-born terrorist Azzam al-Amriki touts the ease with which "You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle without a background check," Mayors Against Illegal Guns urges Americans to call their representatives in Congress to support stronger regulations.

"Criminals already know how to take advantage of gaps in our gun laws, and now Al Qaeda knows, too," said Bloomberg in a statement. "Americans, including NRA members, overwhelmingly support stronger laws to keep guns away from terrorists and other dangerous people. You are checked against the terror watch list to board an airplane, but you don't have to be checked when buying assault weapons. Weak gun laws aren't just a crime problem, they're a national security threat - and this ad should be a wake-up call to Congress."

The group cites 2011 data from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) showing more than 1,000 instances since 2004 in which terror suspects were able to purchase guns or explosives.  

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., earlier this year introduced to the Senate the "Fix Gun Checks Act," which would "ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check system and require a background check for every firearm sale." The bill was referred to Committee on the Judiciary but has yet to see further movement since March.

In May, however, House Republicans shot down a similar proposal, which would have prevented people on the FBI's terrorist watch list from purchasing firearms.

"It shows how extreme the National Rifle Association's control over Congress really is," said the measure's sponsor Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., of the defeat.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is hoping its new campaign will up the pressure on Congress to take action on the issue.

"Whether it's an illegal gun in the hands of a career criminal or an assault rifle in the hands of a terrorist, mayors and law enforcement take these threats seriously," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said in a statement. "We hope this ad campaign will focus public attention right where it belongs: on a Congress that continues to be asleep at the switch on a critical national security issue."

Watch the ad below.

What Are You Waiting For? from Fix Gun Checks on Vimeo.

[ConlawBloganon]

This is, of course, ridiculous. First of all, most of the claims made in this video and article are pretty blatantly false. You cannot readily buy a "fully automatic" weapon, due to the National Firearms Act. No one will sell a gun to someone who looks like a terrorist. You have to be a US citizen to buy a handgun in any state. You have to be a US citizen to buy a rifle in most states. And rifles/shotguns account for only a miniscule minority of violent crimes committed with firearms.

Read more: http://conlaw-bloganon.blogspot.com

[Calvinius]

Azzam al-Amriki is an idiot (even moreso than was already obvious, given his al-Qaeada membership) if he believes you can buy fully automatic weapons at a gun show without a background check. Bloomberg is an even bigger idiot for using those obviously false statements in his gun-banning agenda.

[1NCCCH]

Casting Bloomberg as simply an idiot makes him seem well intentioned but inept. I think he is calculating, deliberately dishonest, and evil; an elitist tyrant who thinks he is smarter and more capable than the rest of us. When public SERVANTS presume to act like kings and treat the populace as servants, it stands natural order on its head. This should be offensive to everyone who values freedom and liberty. We fought a war of independence against just this kind of privileged arrogance. Think about it this July 4th! Even if well intentioned but inept, he is still dead wrong. C.S. Lewis was right: "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

[CaboSailor]

"in which American-born terrorist Azzam al-Amriki touts the ease with which "You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle without a background check,"

That's the BS they are using for justification? Please tell me just which gun show this is, I'll pick up half a dozen. NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE 'picks up a full automatic anything' without a Class III license. If you want full automatic weapons without the background check and without the license then check with your friendly neighborhood BATF agent. They have thousands to either sell or give away. Just check their Mexican based stores.

[HRPuffinstuff]

How may Mayors have opted out of Bloomberg's facist organization in the last few years, when they learned the truth about it? Hundreds!

He wants to control ALL transactions. You wouldn't be able to pass a family heirloom shotgun from father to son without big government approval, under his proposal. Doesn't matter if it's at a gun show or not.

First, it was "Saturday Night Specials, the weapon of choice" of criminals. Then it was "Assault weapons, the weapon of choice" of criminals. Then it was "Cop Killer Bullets", the ammunition of choice of criminals. Then high capacity magazines.

Now they try to step it up a notch by scaring folks with TERRORISTS! TERRORISTS are going to buy automatic weapons with no controls on them! Oh the horror! They must be controlled!

CONTROL is the only issue with Bloomberg.

[goat5691]

It is not restricted to just look to the illegal buyers we have to also address the fact that local businesses are selling to them.
I witnessed a felon buy a handgun from an ad in the classified section of the Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico). We need to get control of this if we are going to get any kind of control.

[nojoy01]

by bilrobi1 June 28, 2011 3:07 PM EDT
It seems to me that everyone would welcome legislation that would keep guns away from terrorist and others that would do harm the Americans. I really do believe that with every right comes a responsibility. I understand that the Second Amendment is important to many people. But do we really want terrorist,and irresponsible people to have access to firearms. How would that benefit anybody?From what I read,their is no infringement on those who are responsible and lawful to own firearms. But being able to check a data base to see if your selling a gun to a criminal or a terrorist is not such a bad idea.
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OF COURSE no one wants a terrorist or an irresponsible person to have access to firearms. Unfortunately there is no defense against irresponsible people elsewise there would be no alcohol related deaths on our nations hiways. And basing their position in part on one uninformed zealots blathering to impress his new fiends (uh, that's supposed to be friends:) about "fully automatic weapons" sales on a "cash & carry basis" which cannot legally happen demonstrates that the mayors league is either woefully ignorant on the subject or they are deliberately distorting facts to support their own goals. I don't know about the mayors league but the last gun show I went to everybody selling firearms inside the premisis was already an FFL dealer & you had to do the background check before you took delivery. So on the face of it the mayors want a new law regulating what is already illegal or regulated. If the mayors want to regulate private firearms transactions that's a different basket of worms. And like most well intended laws, it wouldn't prevent such transactions, it would only allow you to punish the transgressor after the fact.

[1NCCCH]

I think it is telling that MAID Michael is taking talking point from a traitor. For those unfamiliar with arabic naming conventions, "al-Amriki" isn't the dirtbag's last name, it is his country of origin, AMERICA, Azam the American! And Azam the American is just as ignorant about one's ability to buy machine guns over the counter as Bloomberg is. Doesn't happen, civilian ownership of machine guns is difficult, tightly regulated, steeply taxed, and EXPENSIVE. And regardless of appearance and general public ignorance on the subject of guns, semi-autos are not machine guns no matter how often the propogandist lie is told.

[Bisk1]

In May, however, House Republicans shot down a similar proposal, which would have prevented people on the FBI's terrorist watch list from purchasing firearms.


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Just SAD .......

[CaboSailor]

You mean like the 6 year old kid and hundreds others that are on the list for no valid reason?

[MontanaLibertarian]

As CaboSailor notes, there is no apparent logic and certainly no due process involved in who gets put on a terrorist watch list and no due process for getting taken off if you're erroneously added. Even Senator Teddy "The Hero of Chappaquiddick" Kennedy was on one.

If you want your constitutional rights to depend utterly on the whim of faceless, and likely stupid, bureaucrats, then move to one of the many pestholes in this world where that happens.

Otherwise, stop insisting or implying that only known, confirmed terrorists wind up on the terrorist watch lists.

[jjoe57]

The reason is fairly obvious why Congress is "asleep at the switch," as the Boston mayor states in this article. The Republicans, who control the House and have a stranglehold on the Senate, are in the throes of the pro-gun lobby.

[jimg9x21]

Bloomberg's group of 600 (out of 10's of thousands of mayors, the Flat Earth Society has more members) is trying to create a problem where there is none. They are relying on the rant of a dimwitted nut job as "proof" there is a problem with gun shows. That's all their proof. Despite several studies contacted by the FBI that show criminals don't get their firearms from gun shows, Bloomberg decided that using the word "terrorist" might have more impact. The fact that you can't buy a fully automatic firearm anywhere (without a special federal tax stamp) in the USA except on the black market doesn't seem to faze any of Bloomberg's minions. And while we are checking the facts, since when do we subscribe to a process of denying due process in this country? The "terrorist" watch list is one of those "secret" government lists that no one knows how they got on or how to get off. Like the notorious "no fly" list, the government is trying to take away a constitutional right without due process. The suspect is guilty until proven innocent and can't prove their innocence because they haven't been charged with a crime. Is this really what Bloomberg wants?