Michael Bloomberg Never Misses a Chance...

[MountainDon]

That is anti gun Mayor of NYC Michael Bloomberg of course. I was wondering when someone was going to try to make a big deal out of the fact that the Times Square mis-bomber owned a handgun... Now I know.

FYI, there is no doubt that the mayor is anti gun and uses every trick to inflame people against guns. He also lies.

New York's mayor and police commissioner both urged Congress today to close a "terror gap" in federal gun laws that they said permitted the suspect in the failed Times Square bombing to purchase a handgun in March.

Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Faisal Shahzad's placement on a federal watch list of potential terrorists should have allowed authorities to keep him from buying a firearm, just as it allowed them to block his attempt to fly out of the country on Monday.

Bloomberg is leading a national coalition of mayors backing legislation that would use the FBI's computerized record check system to flag and then stop gun purchase attempts by anyone on the watch list. More than 1,200 people on the list have bought guns from federally licensed dealers since 2004, the Government Accountability Office reported today.

Shahzad bought his 9 mm gun from a dealer in Connecticut. The weapon, which did not figure in the bombing attempt, was found in a car Shahzad parked at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport before he boarded a plane bound for Dubai. Police arrested Shahzad just before the Emirates flight took off.

While the investigation into the bombing attempt continues, New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Shahzad's gun purchase may have been a signal that he was preparing an attack

"We are the target. We're going to be the target again," Bloomberg told the Senate committee. If authorities believe it's dangerous to let an individual board a plane, "it's probably appropriate to look very hard before you let them buy a gun," he said.

But a pair of Republican senators argued that the watch list is far too unreliable to justify its use in denying Americans their constitutional right to bear firearms.

"I think you're going too far here," said Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., who noted that no one has a constitutional right to board an airplane. "I want to slow down and think about this."

He added, "Some of the people pushing this idea are also pushing the idea of banning handguns."

"No one is trying to ban handguns here. ... This is far from that," retorted committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. The bill would permit anyone barred from buying a gun because of placement on the list to challenge that action in court, he said.

Lieberman argued that in some cases, authorities might decide to let a purchase go forward because they have the gun buyer under surveillance and hope he will lead them to other terrorists.

Graham also used today's hearing to renew Republican complaints that the Obama administration allowed Shahzad to be read his right to refuse to answer police questions or to have a lawyer present during questioning. He said terror suspects should be treated as enemies on the battlefield, not given the legal protections afforded Americans accused of crimes.

Authorities said that Shahzad was questioned briefly before being read his rights and that he continued to speak to them after being advised he could not be required to talk.

://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/nyc-mayor-michael-bloomberg-takes-aim-at-terror-gap-in-us-gun-law/19465962

[Woodsrule]

Bloomberg also posited early on that the bomber could have been someone who was angry over the National healthcare bill. Never mind that Islamists have been plotting for years to kill folks in New York. No, he missed the opportunity to cast blame where it belongs, and went after those dangerous tea partiers. Watch out for the disgruntled grandmas!