BELLEVUE, WA – Several members of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition are annoyed by freedom of information requests about their activities from a California law firm, yet these same mayors have no problem demanding complete access to sensitive gun trace data.
The Second Amendment Foundation today said the mayors are practicing a double standard and are guilty of “world class hypocrisy.” SAF founder Alan Gottlieb pointed to a remark from Joseph Arellano in San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office, who contended that the information being sought by the law firm of Trutanich Michel “is privileged.”
“That information couldn’t be anywhere near as privileged as the gun trace data kept by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that these anti-gun mayors want to get their hands on,” Gottlieb stated. “Mayors Against Illegal Guns has been pushing for repeal of the Tiahrt Amendment this week just so they can access that data and use it to further their anti-gun lawsuit agenda.
“This has nothing to do with crime prevention, and they know it,” he continued. “They’ve been saying the trace data is not available to law enforcement, and that’s a lie. Gun trace data is available for legitimate on-going criminal investigations. It’s just not available for politically-motivated legal fishing expeditions.”
Gottlieb said Trutanich Michel has every right to the information it is seeking, because no criminal investigations would be jeopardized if they get it. That is not the case with the mayors wanting access to gun trace data, where criminal investigations could easily be compromised.
“It is arrogant beyond words for these mayors to demand access to gun trace data, and then turn around and declare that information about their coalition’s activities is privileged,” he remarked. “The mayors claim they are working in the public interest. We think the public interest would be better served by learning about the activities of this mayors’ group – how it is financed, and whether it has misused public resources, for example.
“Bloomberg and his cronies already have a credibility problem,” Gottlieb concluded. “They shouldn’t compound things by trying to conceal their activities from public scrutiny.”