Bloomberg Really Wants Congress To Fix Gun Background Checks

Mayor Bloomberg, Martin Luther King III and others at City Hall (NYC Mayor's Office)

Earlier this month, Mayor Bloomberg blasted current gun laws that allowed Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of attempting to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, to buy a gun. Now, with his Mayors Against Illegal Guns group, he has started a new crusade to reform the background checks on gun purchases. According to the campaign, Bloomberg, other lawmakers, and victims of gun violence want Congress to do two things: "1) fulfill the letter of the historic 1968 gun law and ensure that all names of people prohibited from buying a gun are in the background check system; and 2) fulfill the intent of the historic 1968 gun law by subjecting every gun sale to a background check."

Bloomberg said, "The time has clearly come to finally fulfill the intent of the common sense gun law passed after the 1968 assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, by creating a loophole-free background check system for the sale of firearms. Every day, 34 Americans are murdered with guns - and most of them are purchased or possessed illegally." And Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino said, "There are those who fail to truly read the 2nd amendment. They ignore the need for a common sense approach to guns in our communities. The best way to respond to the heinous acts of violence we have seen in our nation's history is to prevent them from ever happening again. Lax screening in response to these tragic shootings is no virtue."

The Brady Bill, which went into effect in 1994, was supposed to create a national background check system, but the NY Times reports that Mayors Against Illegal Guns believes it's "flawed because it does not have records on millions of people who should be disqualified from buying or possessing guns. Ten states have not submitted any mental health records to the background check system, and 18 states have provided fewer than 100 mental health records," according to the group.

Martin Luther King III lent his support to the push, as did relatives and friends of victims from the LIRR, Virginia Tech, Columbine and Tuscon shootings. Vada Vasquez, the Bronx teen who was shot in the head from stray gunfire, was also there; she was shot in the same part of the brain as Rep. Giffords and she told the Daily News that she thinks Giffords can make it.

The group launched a new advocacy website, Fix Gun Checks. Bloomberg started Mayors Against Illegal Guns in 2006.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on January 24, 2011 6:21 PM

Comments [rss]

cmdrogogov

There's only one reason why you'd want to own a gun at all.

handsomedevil

Well no, there are like 5 reasons why you'd want a handgun.

1) They are neato and fun to shoot.
2) They make you feel like Clint Eastwood.
3) You work a profession / have a life situation in which your personal safety is actually in danger.
4) You would like to blow your own brains out.
5) You are going to shoot that bitch / asshole boss / public figure. (Then, maybe, see #4.)

Problem is, 4 out of those 5 aren't really good enough reasons.

Rod

you forgot "to kill weaker animals for sport".

according the NRA, that's the #1 reason to have guns, though I missed that in the 2nd amendment.

handsomedevil

That's rifles, not handguns. AFAIK nobody hunts with a handgun.

I got no problem with (non-automatic) rifles. You can't conceal em, and you can only shoot one person at a time. Let's restrict the shit out of all the non-hunting equipment first.

Of course, the other troubling NRA argument is that people need guns to fight against the government. That's batshit crazy.

cmdrogogov

I'm sure they'd rename themselves to the National Pointy-stick Association if guns ever got banned anyway.

Newhce

Exactly how would any of these laws have prevented the Tucson shooting?

Rod

they wouldn't. even if Loughener was unable to legally buy a gun he'd just go buy one illegally. it's a little harder than buying coke or pot.

of course, bloomtard says the War on Drugs has been a major success.

which is why gothamist and the press say he's a great mayor.

ya can't even get jen to mention that mikey paid for the elections of the NRA politicians!

Hugh G. Rection

yap yap yap, shut yer face already bloombutt and leave law-abiding gun owners alone. go buy another election or something

handsomedevil

Actually, if you are law-abiding you should have no problem with stricter background checks, right? But naw SHUT UP BLOOMBIRG I LOVES MAH GUNS.

CarloOG

You can background check the hell out of anyone but it wont stop anything. Everyday people with no criminal history commit crimes, and everyday there are people who are not clinically diagnosed mentally unstable that go nuts and do some dumb shit. I am for whatever background checks they want to throw at me but it wont stop senseless acts of violence.

Peter Rosa

I'm not so sure if enhanced background checks would have prevented Jared Loughner from buying his pistol. He had no direct contact with the mental health system, he'd never been committed to a mental hospital or checked himself into one. Realistically, the only way to have stopped his purchase would have been if a full background check were required, with interviews, reviews of employment and educational records, personal references, and so on.

handsomedevil

How about this - you shouldn't be able to get a handgun unless you can demonstrate that you need it. In court.

Problem 90% solved.

Rod

or we could imprison the #1 funder of republicans across the nation who fight to make it easy for any thug to buy guns at any walm-mart.

his name is michael r. bloomberg.

no more republicans, problem 100% solved.