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Armed and Safe is a gun rights advocacy blog, with the mission of debunking the "logic" of the enemies of the Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms.

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Monday, December 28, 2009

NYC taxpayers pony up $1.5 million to reduce freedom nationwide

Between Mayor Bloomberg's billions and Joyce Foundation money for his Illegal Mayors Against Guns (something like that), I guess I kinda figured there was sufficient cash in the Pro-Tyranny Fund to pay for Bloomberg's little Junior G-Man operations without NYC taxpayer help.

Guess I was wrong.

Mayor Bloomberg's crusade against guns comes with a price tag attached.

Bills obtained by the Daily News show the city Law Department has paid almost $1.5 million to Kroll Associates, a high-end detective firm, for its undercover probe of out-of-state gun sales.
"Mayor Bloomberg's crusade against guns"--a refreshing bit of honesty from the New York Daily News.

I realize, of course, that a great many New York City residents share (to some extent, anyway) Bloomberg's anti-gun passion, but I wonder if they're happy about their tax dollars being spent in that way. It is, after all, one thing to call for a reduction of freedom (in the interest of public "safety," don't you know), but a horse of a different color to be asked to pay for the anti-liberty campaign.

The "investigation" in question is the "sting" operation conducted at several gun shows, in several states, unveiled with much fanfare last October to bolster Bloomberg's efforts to close the mythical "gun show loophole."

The NY Daily News article lists some of the details of the detective bill, and one of those details caught my eye:
As they traveled to gun shows in Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee, they spent tens of thousands of dollars on airfare, hotels, meals and other travel expenses.
When Bloomberg first started trumpeting these "findings," I assumed the purchases were made by detectives who were residents of the states in which the purchases took place. To buy handguns out of state, after all, is against federal law. I've already speculated about whether or not Bloomberg conspired in the federal crime of "straw purchasing" guns, but this new detail prompts me to wonder if he might also have conspired to purchase handguns out of state.

I guess I shouldn't count on the BATFE to look into it.

5 comments:

ditto said...

What? The BATF actually do what they are paid to do? Come on, who are you kidding?

As for tax payer dollars being spent without being asked if it was ok, do you think NYC folks should be any different than the rest of us?


W/V pinelyte, what you call a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

W W Woodward said...

"Bills obtained by the Daily News show the city Law Department has paid almost $1.5 million to Kroll Associates, a high-end detective firm, for its undercover probe of out-of-state gun sales."

Sounds like a brother-in-law deal to me. Has anybody looked into the possibility that somebody connected to Kroll & Associates might be kin to the mayor?

[W-III]

straightarrow said...

Well, WIII, it sounds like crime to me.

W W Woodward said...

Yeah, SA, I think that's sorta what I had in mind. Apples don't fall too far from the tree, do they?

[W-III]

Mark in Wyoming said...

Kurt, got this link off daves war on guns blog and from snarkeybytes , figured you can have tons of fun with this, its the MAIC report
http://snarkybytes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/MAIG-Blueprint-FOIA.pdf
AlphaWolf
III