BELLEVUE, WA – A federal district court in Georgia has denied a request by attorneys for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to transfer a lawsuit filed against the mayor and others by Adventure Outdoors, a Georgia retailer, to a federal court in New York State.
That lawsuit, supported by the Second Amendment Foundation, names as defendants Mayor Bloomberg, the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, the city’s Criminal Justice Coordinator and police superintendent, and a private investigation company that was hired to conduct so-called “sting” operations against Adventure Outdoors and several other gun shops in at least five states. The lawsuit was filed in 2006 in federal court in Georgia, with former Congressman Bob Barr and Jasper, GA attorney Ed Marger representing Adventure Outdoors.
In a move that surprised the defendants, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia denied their attempts to have the case either moved, or dismissed. The lawsuit against Bloomberg and his co-defendants involves allegations of libel, slander and tortuous interference with business relations.
“We are pleased that the case Adventure Outdoors has filed against Mayor Bloomberg and others will remain before a federal district court here in Georgia, governed by Georgia law, and to be heard by a Georgia jury,” Barr stated.
“We are delighted with the court’s decision,” said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “While the Justice Department declined to prosecute Bloomberg and his minions for their vigilante operation in 2006, the federal district court in Georgia appears determined to hold them accountable, in a venue where the rogue activities occurred.
“Big Apple billionaires might think they are above the law, or at least beyond its reach” Gottlieb said, “but they aren’t. Crossing state lines to engage in the kind of activities alleged in this lawsuit should have repercussions. SAF has supported this case because it is the right thing to do, and because Bloomberg and others like him need to be discouraged from doing this sort of thing again.”