During tonight’s debate between Mayor Bloomberg and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, the Mayor had this to say about his efforts to reduce gun crime:
“I ask myself, have I done enough to reduce gun crime, have I done enough to fight the NRA…”
Mr. Mayor, you’re way off base.
Guns are already effectively illegal here in New York City. It is nearly impossible for an ordinary citizen to obtain a handgun permit. One can get a rifle/shotgun permit, but it’ll cost $150 a year, and it can’t leave the home. And yet for 2006, here are the numbers:
Percentage of homicides committed with firearms:
Nationally: 69%
NYC: 64%Gee, those gun laws sure seem to be working. Or not.
How dare you attack the NRA, and blame them for gun crime in New York City. Do you understand what the NRA stands for, what they represent, what they do?
Mr. Mayor, do you know that the NRA trains most of the police firearms instructors in the United States*? Let me say that again: they train the people that train the police. And they do so without making a profit.
Why did you point your finger at the NRA during the debate? Did you need a scapegoat? Are you afraid to admit that gun crime can’t be controlled with laws? That if people had better educations, better job opportunities, and more community involvement, that all kinds of crime would go down, including gun crime?
Mr. Mayor, with those few words, you lost my vote. Next time, know the facts, and think before you speak.
I was going to say basically the same thing when I heard that infuriating quote, so I figured I would just pilfer the quote from someone who said it better than I would probably be able to.
Mayor Bloomberg: I’d sooner not vote than vote for you again. Your anti-gun agenda has clouded your judgment to the point where you’re not trustworthy as Mayor any more. When you start associating the NRA with gun-crime, I stop supporting you and as of this moment, you’re no longer my candidate for Mayor.
And unless you’re dumb enough to believe that the bloods and crips who are shooting each other in Harlem, the South Bronx, and Washington Heights are doing so because of NRA-related training, I highly recommend you apologize lest you look even more foolish than you already do.