BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today confirmed that it is providing financial support to Adventure Outdoors of Smyrna, Georgia in a lawsuit against New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other New York defendants for attempting to ensnare and defame the store in Bloomberg’s infamous 2006 gun shop “sting.”
SAF’s support was requested by attorney and former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, now working at the Jasper, Georgia law offices of Edwin Marger, which represents Adventure Outdoors. SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb said the foundation has sent a check to Marger, and promised to help bring public attention to the case.
“Bloomberg’s notorious enterprise against Adventure Outdoors and other gun retailers was, and remains, an outrage,” Gottlieb stated.
Adventure Outdoors was targeted by Bloomberg’s vigilante “sting” operation last year. In addition to suing Bloomberg, the company has filed a motion to dismiss the civil lawsuit filed by Bloomberg against the gun shop. Adventure Outdoors is one of several retail firearms dealers targeted by Bloomberg’s rogue operation. That multi-state “sting” has come under the scrutiny of the Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Justice Department has declined to file criminal charges against any of the gun dealers targeted by Bloomberg, and has advised Bloomberg’s office that it could face “potential legal liabilities” if such sting operations continue. Earlier this year, W. Larry Ford, Assistant ATF Director for Public and Governmental Affairs, confirmed to SAF that the agency “is investigating the matter [Bloomberg’s stings] in order to determine if violations of federal firearms laws occurred.”
“Mayor Bloomberg and his henchmen had no legal authority to conduct their questionable operation,” Gottlieb noted. “These civil lawsuits amount to harassment through the courts. It’s an egregious abuse of perceived power by Bloomberg, and we’re only too happy to assist Bob Barr and his colleagues in an effort to stop Bloomberg’s demagoguery.”