Here it is, Mayor Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Menino's ad about gun control reform that will run during the Super Bowl. They make lots of NYC and Boston jokes, as well as Giants and Patriots puns! more ›

Arizona officials are pretty miffed that those city slickers in Mayor Bloomberg's administration hired private investigators to illegally purchase guns at a Phoenix gun show last week. Undercover video showed investigators at the Crossroads of the West gun show easily buying Glocks like the kind used by Jared Loughner in the Tuscon massacre—a loophole in federal gun laws allowed them to buy the guns without a background check, but two gun vendors illegally sold guns to "buyers" who confessed that they probably wouldn't pass a background check. The probe was a chilling reminder of how easy it is to get your hands on semi-automatic weapons, but Arizona officials think Bloomberg should just mind his own beeswax. more ›

The guv'ment's tyrannical background checks stopping you from exercising your Second Amendment right to carry a semiautomatic handgun that can squeeze off 33 rounds in seven seconds or less? Just come on down to the Crossroads of the West Gun Show in Phoenix, Arizona, where undercover investigators working with Mayor Bloomberg's administration had no problem buying Glocks like the kind used by Jared Loughner in the Tuscon massacre. All you need to do is show some I.D. to exploit what some lawmakers call the "gun show loophole." In fact, one investigator was able to pay cash for a 9 mm semiautomatic even after telling the seller he probably wouldn't pass a background check. Instead of refusing the sale, as required by federal law, the gun peddler pockets the $500 and directs his shady customer toward the tent with the cheap ammunition. Watch: more ›

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." more ›

After his $500,000 donation to NY State Republicans was revealed, Mayor Bloomberg explained why he did it to reporters while attending a Mayors Against Illegal Guns conference, "I've said repeatedly, I will help those who help us. They have stood up for the city a number of times — when we needed to have a voice in Albany and we didn't have that voice from the Assembly or from the governor, whether it was the last governor or this governor." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg still claims he's not running for President, but he's spending thousands of dollars to run a full page ad in The Des Moines Register--Iowa's largest circulation local paper--with his face on it. One can see the full ad here. The Mayor also placed an identical ad in The New Hampshire Union Leader. We're running this ad to the Bat Cave, to see if there are any subliminal "Mike Bloomberg '08" messages! more ›

Mayor Bloomberg has made ridding the city of illegal guns one of his administration's major issues (it's also a big part of his potential national platform). Last year, he, on behalf of NYC, filed two federal lawsuits against out-of-state gun dealers, after sting operations revealed that the dealers were apparently selling guns illegally. While some dealers have settled, others are fighting back, countersuing the city. The Bloomberg administration's sting operations involved two undercovers going to... more ›

Some Brooklyn residents and business owners are wondering if the nice weather means it's the "start of crazy time" given yesterday's two daytime shootings in Brooklyn. One incident occurred around noon near PS 256 - the Post reports that over 200 kids were outside during recess when a drive-by shooting took place at Marcy and Lafayette avenues - which is also near a park. Someone in a "light-colored sedan" fired at a Ford Explorer, killing the driver, 21-year-old Isaiah Jacob. The passenger, who was shot twice and is in serious condition, had escaped the Ford "before it sped down the block and smashed into a parked car." more ›

Update: WNBC reports that Cho Seung Hui sent a "box containing a manifesto of sorts, photographs and other material" (including videos) to NBC News. NBC News received it today and president Steve Capus turned the box over the FBI, but MSNBC says that the box was sent between the two shootings.

The package included a long, “rambling, manifesto-like statement embedded with a series of photographs,” Capus said. The material is “hard-to-follow ... disturbing, very disturbing — very angry, profanity-laced,” he said. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg missed the Second Avenue Subway groundbreaking yesterday morning because he was in Cincinnati to unveil the latest part of his campaign fight illegal guns. And, yes, Ohio is a swing state. more ›

One of Mayor Bloomberg's biggest initiatives is to stop gun dealers from illegally selling guns that make their way to New York City. Last May, the city filed its first federal lawsuit against out-of-state gun dealers, after conducting sting purchases where one individual would purchase a gun for someone else. Yesterday, the Department of Justice announced that the gun dealers would not face criminal prosecution because the investigators conducting the stings may have acted illegally. more ›