Bloomberg hits Bush on no weapons ban

[web_norah]

Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have downplayed his differences with President George W. Bush when the Republicans were in town, but he took a very John Kerry-like whack at Bush yesterday over the lapsed assault weapons ban.

"It's a disgrace that we are going to allow guns to be sold on the streets and I think the president can do more," the mayor said at a Brooklyn news conference yesterday.

It was a highly unusual move for Bloomberg, who has avoided directly criticizing the White House on contentious issues, including gun control and homeland security funding.

Four years ago, Bush — who has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association — said he would sign an extension of the 1994 bill if it reached his desk. But Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has accused the president of failing to pressure his GOP allies in Congress and the Senate to defy the NRA by extending the bill.

The ban on 19 types of automatic and semi-automatic assault rifles and machine pistols expired Monday, 11 years after it was passed and signed by President Bill Clinton. The Bush administration has pointed the finger at Congress for failing to pass a measure for him to sign.

Bloomberg also criticized congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle for failing to reach an agreement.

"I think everybody isn't doing enough to make sure that that ban stays on the books," he said. "I don't know of anybody in either party in the Senate that's trying to rush out to try to defend the rights of the rest of us to go about our lives."

Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly joined Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn, a Democrat, on Sept. 10 to call for a renewal of the ban.

"These guns are designed to kill as many people as they can as quickly as possible," the mayor said yesterday. "That's the only purpose for these guns. And I think the only people that should have them are obviously your soldiers who are overseas fighting a war or, in limited instances, your police department."
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.

[pod]

Bloomberg is a jackass. He doesn't understand the AWB didn't mean a thing really. It was over aesthetics. See my posts in the other thread.

[web_norah]

Bloomberg is a douche you're right -i posted this for the die-hard republicans in the house :P

[pod]

In his mind we're all gonna go out and buy TEC-9s now.

I'm not that stupid. TEC-9s suck.

[saintjohn]

"sold on the streets"? oh, please.

here's what the violence policy center (one of the organizations which enthusiastically supported the awb) had to say on the sunset of the ban:

"The only difference is that the arbitrary distinction between pre- and post-ban assault weapons is now gone."

source:

http://www.vpc.org/press/0409aw.htm