Sunday, May 21, 2006

Did Bloomberg's Boobs Screw Up Investigations While Violating Law?

Mayor Bloomberg's decision to hire private investigators to conduct undercover stings at Southern gun shops has potentially jeopardized several criminal cases, law enforcement sources charged.
That's pathetically funny. Still, it misses a key point I have been harping on, but don't expect to see "authorized journalists" even hint at, let alone investigate: If Bloomberg's team broke the law in their publicity stunt, they committed multiple criminal acts for which "ordinary citizens" WOULD HAVE THEIR LIVES DESTROYED if they were caught in just one infraction. If they knowingly did this, it is a criminal conspiracy, with Mikey being the criminal mastermind.

The papers are quick to raise the shrill term "illegal gun purchases," but were they? Were the purchases conducted where it is legal to buy a gun for a relative, in which case this is all just a cheap publicity stunt aimed at ginning up public hysteria, or did someone on the "sting" team actually lie on a federal form? As Project Safe Neighborhoods reminds us:
If you buy a gun for someone else and lie on the federal form about who the gun is for, you have committed a federal crime.
Another New York Daily News "story" tells us:
The city hired the James Mintz Group, a private investigation firm, to conduct sting operations in gun stores in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.
And who makes up the James Mintz Group?
[M]ore than twenty-five experienced investigators, including former investigative reporters, federal investigators and prosecutors.
It's not a stretch to conclude they're people who should know better than to break the law.

Jim Mintz himself certainly does. Hell, he can even flowchart the process (if there's ink in it for him). So if he's overseeing the commission of federal "gun felonies", he's doing so with special contempt for the law.

Back to the Daily News:
"Our opponents never tire of telling us that we ought to be going after the people who break the law with guns," Bloomberg said yesterday at City Hall, flanked by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and city Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo. "Well, okay, you ask for something, you got it."
That's what I'm asking for, Mike. Not that I think anyone of the ruling elites or their enforcers will give it to me.

Here's something else I'm asking for: Right now, these questions are relegated to this obscure blog. If you think it's important for gun owners to get honest answers, join me in demanding them.

If you have your own site, investigate it yourself and blog about it. If not, write to "establishment" news outlets and ask them why they're not looking into this. It will only take you a few moments. If you don't, this will be swept under the rug, and Bloomberg and Co. will continue their relentless, freedom-hating assault against ourselves and our posterity.

[Initial link via Blognomicon]

6 comments:

AlanDP said...

I sent the Daily Times an email. We'll have to wait and see if they respond.

Anonymous said...

Looking now for an email address for Eliot Spitzer? NYAtty Gen.

David Codrea said...

He has contact and complaint forms on his website, but no direct email address.

But you don't want Spitzer anyway--not only is he every bit the anti-rkba zealot Bloomberg is, but he has no jurisdiction over violations of federal law or violations of the laws of other states.

If you wish to file a legal complaint, it would be with BATFU and then the AGs of the states where the "sting" scams were conducted.

In truth, I'd be surprised if any laws were actually broken. My best guess is this is hysteria over standard paperwork practices we all go through (where permitted by state law) when gifting someone with a gun.

But I wouldn't mind being proven wrong, and finding out that the Mintz Group falsified federal forms...

E. David Quammen said...

Excellent piece of investigative work, David!

Anonymous said...

I'm sending a letter to our state attorney general here in Georgia. I posted a note in a local forum (www.georgiapacking.org) and urged my local brothers to send a letter as well. For those in Georgia, here's the address:

Office of the Attorney General of Georgia
Mr. Thurbert E. Baker
40 Capitol Square, SW
Atlanta, GA 30334

David Codrea said...

Jason M--can you send me the letter? And let me know if he replies?