Bloomberg Sees Gains In Gun Fight

Mayor Bloomberg is taking his battle against illegal guns to Capitol Hill next year, and he already has more than 100 city leaders from 44 states behind him.The Boston-born Mr. Bloomberg appeared there yesterday alongside the city’s Democratic mayor, Thomas Menino, to trumpet the latest expansion of their anti-gun trafficking effort.It was the mayor’s third out-of-state trip in as many weeks amid speculation that he is considering a run for the White House. He has repeatedly denied presidential aspirations, but his chief political strategist is trying to change the mayor’s mind.Mr. Bloomberg announced yesterday that the next summit would take place in Washington in January. That journey to lobby federal lawmakers could serve the dual purpose of boosting the mayor’s anti-gun effort as well as cultivating key allies on Capitol Hill if he decides to seek the presidency in 2008.Just six months after meeting in New York to launch the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, Messrs. Bloomberg and Menino said their national network now encompasses the heads of 109 municipalities from 44 states. The coalition members hail from large cities, such as Chicago and Los Angeles, and small, such as Sparks, Nev., Beaverton, Ore., and Macon, Ga.The coalition includes 85 Democrats, 12 Republicans, and 22 independent or nonpartisan mayors who represent a total of 44 million Americans, Mr. Bloomberg said.The 109 mayors have signed a pledge that says they will oppose any federal legislation that would make it harder for cities to track gun sales or that would “interfere with the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to combat illegal gun trafficking.”Mr. Bloomberg acknowledged that his lobbying push in Washington would be difficult. “We know we face an uphill fight,” he said.The House of Representatives last month passed H.R. 5092, which includes a series of provisions backed by gun industry lobbyists. Under the bill, gun sellers whose licenses were revoked by federal law-enforcement officials would still have 60 days to “liquidate” their firearms inventory.“Just imagine the outrage if Congress allowed doctors who lose their license to prescribe drugs for 60 days,” Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday.He chastised congressmen from both parties who supported the House bill, which he called “a cheap way to try to buy votes.” The Senate has yet to consider the proposal.Mr. Bloomberg’s efforts drew a denunciation from a firearm industry advocate, Lawrence Keane, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who called yesterday’s press conference “political grandstanding and a publicity stunt.”“There are rumors that Mayor Bloomberg has presidential aspirations — I suppose this all may be an effort by him to test those waters,” Mr. Keane said.Members of the mayor’s coalition have varying degrees of involvement, and some could only guess as to why they were approached to participate.“They called here from Bloomberg’s office,” the mayor of Beaverton, Ore. (population 83,100), Robert Drake, said. “I’m guessing that they found me because I’m on the National League of Cities’ Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee.”As for his participation: “I’m not going to attend any meetings, but I’ll make sure that it stays a national issue.”Mr. Bloomberg’s outspokenness on gun control might appeal to independent voters, according to a White House communications director during the Carter administration, Gerald Rafshoon.“Reasonable people — people in the center, which is the majority — respect a mayor or a governor or a senator who takes a clear position on an issue like that and articulates what he believes,” said Mr. Rafshoon, one of the founders of Unity08, an effort to put forward an independent ticket in the next presidential election.New York City has sued 15 gun dealers in five states who violated federal or state laws. Five of those dealers have settled with the city and agreed to a court-appointed monitor.“Should Mr. Bloomberg seek the presidency, his anti-gun-trafficking effort is a very good platform on which to present his successful tenure as New York City mayor,” a political commentator and Unity08 co-founder, Doug Bailey, said.“In a three-way race, it could appeal to a significant portion of the urban vote, perhaps in large enough numbers to be a telling issue,” Mr. Bailey said.A Columbia University political scientist, Justin Phillips, cautioned that “gun control is not a winning issue in a presidential campaign.”“It doesn’t play well in southern states, in western states, and in the Midwest,” Mr. Phillips said. “There’s a small, coastal audience for gun control.”

Bloomberg Sees Gains In Gun Fight

Bloomberg Sees Gains In Gun Fight

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