Bloomberg Plays Classic NYC 3-Card Con Game on Firearms
September 10, 2006

by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor

Walk down almost any New York City street and you’re likely to find a couple of charlatans running a con game for suckers in which the mark is supposed to bet that he can pick one of three cards being swiftly and artfully shuffled about in supposed plain sight. The mark always loses and the game is set up so the con artists can fold it up and run away when a policeman spots them.

I was reminded of the 3-card Monte con—a classic New York City street scam—as we were going to press with this issue and I received e-mailed news from the National Shooting Sports Federation (NSSF) and Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) as well as Dave Workman’s story reporting that the two groups were blasting New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

It’s all about a scam that Bloomberg began working this year and which he had used to hoodwink other mayors, the press and the public. Bloomberg and his staff of policy advisors, like the average street con man, are well aware of P.T. Barnum’s famous dictum: “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

They decided to shuffle the cards on their anti-gun trick of blaming everyone but themselves for their city’s violent crime—in one of the most restrictive gun control environments in the nation. This time they pretended that the only guns they were after were “illegal guns”—that is any gun that is not registered to some individual or dealer in New York.

Like the New York City suit against gun manufacturers and marketers, Bloomberg and his pals blamed federal laws as well as the firearms laws of other states. Like kids who point to a playmate or sibling when a parent inquires about some broken object, Bloomberg and his fellow mayors targeted dealers in other states.

Attracting a Crowd
They made big headline in New York City and drew a crowd of onlookers in the national media just as the 3-card Monte operator draws a crowd to watch him cheat some sucker. But while Bloomberg’s scam may have delighted his fellow charlatans in the anti-gun, anti-self-defense movement, he seems to have folded his card stand and run away when federal law enforcement took an interest in his trickery.

Here’s Workman’s report about SAF and NSSF unloading on Bloomberg in late August because the mayor has refused to turn over alleged evidence gathered by private investigators in a so-called gun trafficking sting operation more than three months ago.

“Bloomberg was accused of ‘stonewalling’ by NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence Keane, while SAF founder Alan Gottlieb has called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to prosecute the mayor for obstruction of justice.

“In May, Bloomberg staged a high-profile press conference to announce civil lawsuits that New York has filed against 15 gun dealers in five states.

“The New York Sun took Bloomberg to task in its Aug. 28 edition, noting that analysts believe Bloomberg’s withholding of his alleged evidence ‘may have slowed federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in its investigation of and possible action against gun dealers that broke the law.’ ”

“But neither Keane nor Gottlieb appears convinced that Bloomberg really has the goods on the dealers he is suing,” Workman continued.

Veracity of Claims
“If these firearms dealers violated federal law there needs to be a full investigation,” Keane said. “The fact that Mr. Bloomberg is so afraid to turn over ‘evidence’ to the ATF speaks volumes as to the veracity of his claims.”

Added Gottlieb, “Allegations of criminal wrong-doing 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.… If these retailers actually committed crimes, 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?”

“After berating ATF and issuing defaming statements about numerous firearms dealers,” Keane added, “Mayor Bloomberg has the opportunity to set the record straight. Mr. Bloomberg should release the videotapes and other ‘evidence’ he purports to have demonstrating illegalities of firearms dealers. If he continues to obstruct federal law enforcement from investigating these very serious charges, ATF should subpoena this documentation.”

Bloomberg’s sting operation was mounted earlier this year with what NSSF called “misused” gun trace data. For many months, the Democrat-turned-Republican billionaire mayor has been campaigning against guns. He promised to visit state legislatures to speak in favor of more restrictive gun laws, and he has testified several times on Capitol Hill and before traveling Congressional committees to rail about gun laws he feels are too lax.

The centerpiece of his campaign was the multi-state sting operation in which private investigators allegedly made straw purchases while being secretly videotaped. However, the operation may have gotten him in trouble with the ATF and not just because he berated that agency for being “asleep at the switch.” The agency is investigating the sting operation to determine whether any laws were violated by Bloomberg’s private investigators.

Gottlieb blasted Bloomberg’s private investigators as “vigilantes” and said the sting was a “rogue investigation” designed to allow Bloomberg to grandstand.

“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.”

“As the mayor rejects public and law enforcement attempts to back up his incendiary claims,” Keane added, “it appears that his war against the firearms industry is more about publicity and personal disdain for guns than any illegality or impropriety on behalf of the firearms community.”

That’s where Workman’s news story ends. However, I will continue to take the liberty of adding further editorial comment and offer some reminders of related earlier news stories that appear in Gun Week and other news outlets.

Bloomberg Sued
In the Aug. 10 issue of Gun Week we reported that on July 20 Smyrna, GA, gun dealers Jay and Eric Wallace, and their company, Adventure Outdoors, had filed a defamation suit against New York City, its mayor, its corporation counsel, its criminal justice coordinator, and the private investigation firm that hired the free-lance non-police sting operatives. The suit filed in Cobb County Superior Court charges the defendants led by Bloomberg with operating a conspiracy and seeks $400 million in damages.

Adventure Outdoors was one of two shops in the Atlanta, GA, area that had been the target of Bloomberg’s phony sting. In the Aug. 20 issue of Gun Week we reported that two other Georgia dealers unable to deal with the enormous legal expense of fighting a lawsuit filed by Bloomberg had reached a settlement which would allow New York City to monitor their sales records. In reaching the settlement, neither AAA Gun & Pawn Brokers in Hephzibah, GA, nor A-1 Jewelry and Pawn in Augusta admitted to any wrongdoing involving Bloomberg’s “sting.”

As far as we can tell, Bloomberg and his gang in New York City have not responded to the suit filed by Adventure Outdoors. In all likelihood, they’ll drag their legal feet and file the usual counter motions. But the suit may finally go to trial at some future date.

In the meanwhile, it looks like Bloomberg and his coterie of anti-gun scam artists will continue to run from any investigation run by the ATF or any other federal agency.

If he were mayor of any other city, Bloomberg would have egg on his face. However, in New York, he’ll always attract a crowd.
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