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Ohio Town To Bloomberg: Butt Out
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 10, 2009
Modified Oct 10, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 10, 2009
Modified Oct 10, 2009
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On Wednesday, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled the latest efforts in his crusade against illegal guns coming in NYC by allegedly showing how easy it would be to buy a gun—without a background check or with a straw purchaser—at gun shows in Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee. Of course, one town wasn't too pleased with our big city mayor sending in investigators for the sting operation at a local gun show.
Based on NYC's "Gun Show Undercover" report, 75% of the time guns were "sold to people who said either they probably could not pass a background check or to apparent 'straw purchasers.'" The town of Sharonville, Ohio issued a statement:
"It is nice that Mayor Bloomberg has spent New York money hiring private investigators to identify alleged crimes of federal law in other states. However, proper arrests cannot be made without informing the Sharonville Police Department. Customarily, we are informed of these types of investigations so that we can coordinate with the appropriate federal agency...
It should be noted that federal agencies are actively involved in monitoring and enforcing these gun shows including the one represented in the investigation. The violations referred to are federal and not state. The City of Sharonville does not have jurisdiction over federal laws, but does take any violation very seriously. To our knowledge no federal agency was informed of this private investigation and, therefore, makes enforcement of these particular incidents impossible.
The town did add that it was working with the gun show organizer to make sure all laws are being followed. Private unlicensed gun sellers are not required to perform background checks, though it's still a felony to sell guns to people they have reason to believe are prohibited purchasers, like felons. Mayor Bloomberg said, "The gun show loophole is a deadly serious problem."
Earlier this week, the NRA offered up a pro-Bloomberg mobster-type in a video to rally support for a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia.
Tagged
gun show undercover
gun violence
illegal guns
mayor bloomberg
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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