Even More Haslam On Guns
Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam belongs to the anti-gun group Mayors Against Illegal Guns (background here). He has recently begun to distance himself from the group and good for him. As he has stated a few times, he signed the petition that had some core principles that he thought everyone could agree on. Well, here are those principles:
1 – Punish – to the maximum extent of the law – criminals who possess, use, and traffic in illegal guns.
2 – Target and hold accountable irresponsible gun dealers who break the law by knowingly selling guns to straw purchasers.
3 – Oppose all federal efforts to restrict cities’ right to access, use, and share trace data that is so essential to effective enforcement, or to interfere with the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to combat illegal gun trafficking.
4 – Work to develop and use technologies that aid in the detection and tracing of illegal guns.
5 – Support all local state and federal legislation that targets illegal guns; coordinate legislative, enforcement, and litigation strategies; and share information and best practices.
6 – Invite other cities to join us in this new national effort.
And I’ll have to say that, based on the wording, I can see how a politician who isn’t that knowledgeable of gun issues would think they sounded peachy. However, what is said and what is meant are different. In Bloomberg’s case, he has intentionally distorted the meanings of items 2, 3, 4, and 5.
By 2, Bloomberg means to bankrupt lawful dealers with frivolous lawsuits, in which Bloomberg’s investigators likely broke the law.
By 3, he means oppose the Tiahrt Amendment and implies that law enforcement would not be allowed access to trace data. And that implication is false. Even ATF notes that the amendment does not interfere with police ability to trace guns.
By 4, he supports microstamping, an ineffective and expensive pipe dream.
And by 5, they mean more lawsuits and gun control.
The wording of the items may sound reasonable to someone unfamiliar with the issues. But I don’t think Bloomberg meant what Haslam thought he meant.
Other mayors figured it out and quit the group.
January 30th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Why quit the Bloomberg Bunch when you can ride the fence? Be all things to all people. Aren’t Haslam’s two favorite movies “Say Anything” and “Field of Dreams”?
Say anything to get elected and believe if you build it they will come.
With Lincoln Davis and Marsha Blackburn not running all Haslam has to do is beat Zach Wamp. So technically he is already our next Governor.
So five years from now will we be fighting an income tax and all kinds of new guns restrictions?
January 30th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
There are very few guns that are “illegal guns”.
As a comparison, there is very little “illegal alcohol” – perhaps moonshine would be an example of “illegal alcohol”. By merely existing, moonshine is illegal (if my memory serves me correctly). But it is very possible for a person to “possess alcohol illegally”. That is what should be prosecuted.
Back to guns, with the exception of guns that are (what I call) ‘indiscriminate destructive devices’ (e.g. grenades, NBC, etc.), most guns are not illegal.
I told you that so I could tell you this:
Items 1, 3, 4, and 5 all reference “illegal guns”. Although a couple mention illegal actions in relation to the guns, we’ve already seen (as you illustrate, Uncle) that the wording is often twisted and mis-used. So for anyone to “sign-on” to this pledge indicates that they believe that there are sufficient quantities of “illegal guns” that a national working group is needed to act against it. That’s quite false.
And rather ignorant of the people who signed onto it.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Of course Haslam’s distancing himself from Mayors Against Guns, not doing so will cost him a lot of votes. And that, IMHO, is the ONLY reason he’s doing so.
January 30th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
To continue on Huck’s comments:
His office has tried to stop him being linked negatively with the group many times.
He’s well aware of Bloomberg’s intentions.
Yet he’s stayed in the group. Until now.
I think that pretty much says all that needs to be said.
January 31st, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Why not call these bozos by what they are: Mayors Against The Constitution!