BELLEVUE, WA – The renewed scandal involving alleged missing machine guns that had been secretly and illicitly purchased by officers with the Albany, NY Police Department several years ago suggests that if New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to go after illegal guns, he need only drive up the Hudson River with his rogue investigators and turn them loose, the Second Amendment Foundation said today.
The Albany Times Union reported this week that dozens of automatic weapons, obtained apparently without approval by police officers in 1993 and 1994 – during the first Clinton Administration – were originally thought to have been rounded up and destroyed a few years ago. But now, the newspaper said, some of these guns are apparently still missing. One of the guns was reportedly found at a Texas gun store. Another of the guns had been obtained by an assistant district attorney, who ultimately turned it in about four years ago. It was not explained why he had the gun in the first place, but he certainly should have known better, SAF said.
“While Mayor Bloomberg has been bullying gun shops in other states for alleged illegal gun trafficking, he might want to send his vigilante private investigators to harass the Keystone Kops of the Albany Police Department,” said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “And instead of suing gun dealers for firearms that show up in New York City crimes, maybe he ought to apologize to the citizens of Texas for the fact that an illicit Albany machine gun showed up in their state.
“Bloomberg and people like him repeatedly argue that one type of firearm or another should be restricted to the police and military,” he continued. “This case, and similar ones in Oregon and Michigan where police officers were charged with federal firearms violations, demonstrates just how ridiculous that argument is. We’re surprised that none of the officers in the Albany scandal were prosecuted.
“Perhaps the worst part about this scandal is that it is a black mark against all the good, decent police officers out there who wouldn’t dream of being mixed up in something like this,” Gottlieb observed. “Millions of law-abiding American citizens, including thousands who currently own fully-automatic firearms, have never been involved in anything remotely similar to this fiasco, yet Mike Bloomberg wants to strip them of their gun rights.
“Contrary to what the Bloomberg Bunch says, maybe these guns should be restricted to anybody but the police,” Gottlieb concluded.