Second Amendment Foundation Wants Bloomberg Prosecuted for Obstruction

29 August 2006

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is calling on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to prosecute New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for obstruction of justice, for failing to turn over evidence of allegedly illegal firearms transactions to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

In his letter to Gonzales, SAF founder Alan Gottlieb noted reports in a New York newspaper that Mayor Bloomberg has been stonewalling the information his maverick investigation allegedly uncovered during a sting operation earlier this year. That so- called "investigation" was highly criticized by law enforcement when it was first announced more than three months ago.

"Bloomberg's vigilante operation may have compromised genuine on-going BATFE investigations," Gottlieb said. "The city's refusal to turn over so-called 'evidence' in this rogue investigation is very suspicious.

"Allegations of criminal wrong-doing," Gottlieb noted in his letter, "do not necessarily mean the retailers victimized by the mayor's self-generated publicity have actually committed any crime, yet Bloomberg's grandstanding has literally convicted them on television and in news columns."

The city turned over two videotapes that purport to show illegal gun sales, but Gottlieb is not convinced this is valid evidence of wrongdoing. Bloomberg filed civil lawsuits against 15 dealers in five states.

"If these retailers actually committed crimes," Gottlieb said, "then why weren't criminal charges filed? Is it possible that Bloomberg's high profile 'investigation' may have actually turned up nothing of a criminal nature involving the gun dealers targeted by his vigilante investigators?

"Simply because Bloomberg is a billionaire does not put him above the law," Gottlieb concluded. "It also does not give him license to destroy by innuendo and frivolous lawsuits the livelihoods of firearms retailers because he dislikes how they make a living. Bloomberg's political thuggery and obstruction must stop."

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The Second Amendment Foundation (http://www.saf.org) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, the foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.

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