Mayor Mike Bloomberg Asks What Could Have Prevented Arizona Shooting, Talks Gun Control

by Alex Alvarez | 3:55 pm, January 11th, 2011

» 16 comments

New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg called lawmakers on the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition together for a City Hall meeting to discuss the Arizona shooting that left six dead and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords recovering from a bullet to the head. Among the issues discussed was gun control, a topic which inspired an impassioned speech from the Mayor on what, exactly, we should be taking away from the weekend’s events:

The more we learn the more it becomes clear that this case is fundamentally about a mentally ill drug abuser who had access to guns, and shouldn’t have. This isn’t an ideological battle. This is about enforcing the law, pure and simple.

Among those in attendance was Congressman Peter King of Long Island, who shared his plan to introduce a bill making it illegal to carry a firearm within 1,000 feet of a federal official.

At the meeting, Bloomberg presented several ideas to combat the buying and selling of illegal firearms, including:

Appointing a permanent head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms,
Lengthening the time former drug users are prohibited from buying guns from one year to five, and
Increasing communication among the various law enforcement agencies

These suggestions come at a time when the nation – and the opinion news that feeds it – is still reeling as it attempts to make sense of what increasingly appears to be a senseless act of violence. Just today, in fact, Joe Zamudio, who was at the Tucson, Arizona mall at which the shooting took place, appeared on MSNBC’s The Ed Show to discuss how he saved the lives of would-be victims – while armed with a gun of his own.

Arizona shooting, Gun Control, Mike Bloomberg, Peter King

Victor Cornelius

Here we go with talk of more laws that are meaningless to people willing to carry out horrible deeds.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Greg-Palmer/100000481076398 Greg Palmer

If they had enforced the EXISTING laws in force today, this would not have happened. For some reason this reminds me of some other problem created by not enforcing the existing laws….. For the life of me, I just can’t remember what that is…??? Some sort of undocumented problem perhaps???
Atticus Draco

Greg Palmer said:
If they had enforced the EXISTING laws in force today, this would not have happened. For some reason this reminds me of some other problem created by not enforcing the existing laws….. For the life of me, I just can’t remember what that is…??? Some sort of undocumented problem perhaps???

LOL,,, really,, what might that be,,
DANG,, I JUST CANT PUT MY FINGER ON IT!!
Atticus Draco

Greg Palmer said:
If they had enforced the EXISTING laws in force today, this would not have happened. For some reason this reminds me of some other problem created by not enforcing the existing laws….. For the life of me, I just can’t remember what that is…??? Some sort of undocumented problem perhaps???

Atticus Draco said:
LOL,,, really,, what might that be,,
DANG,, I JUST CANT PUT MY FINGER ON IT!!

and btw,, i’m now conditioned to know this,,
YOU’RE TRYING TO INCITE HATE AINT YA?!?
BatBoy

If Joe Zamudio was standing in line that day instead of buying his cigarettes at the Walgreen next door, there is a good chance all 6 people who died would be alive today!

That my friends is Gun Control!
screwauger

Bloomturd the nanny Stater. Why can’t he just go away and do society a favor.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Greg-Palmer/100000481076398 Greg Palmer

BatBoy said:
If Joe Zamudio was standing in line that day instead of buying his cigarettes at the Walgreen next door, there is a good chance all 6 people who died would be alive today!

That my friends is Gun Control!

AHH HAH!!! proof that tobacco kills people.
Pokerdude777

Bloomberg just wants to do anything besides dig into why people died during the snowstorm in NY because the streets were not plowed.
greg454

I’ll give up my guns when Bloomberg gives up his armed bodyguards. This is not the Kingdom of America, our politicians are public SERVANTS, they serve us, we don’t serve them, and as far as I’m concerned they have too many taxpayer-funded privileges.

http://libertarians4freedom.blogspot.com/2011/01/pseudo-republican-david-frum-attacks.html
CAconservative

Here we go, the politicians are going to use this tragedy, to attack the 2nd Amendment privileges of the citizens. They have been eating away at the 2nd Amendment for as long as that Amendment has been in the Constitution. Why, because it is the one Amendment that ensures our freedom.
This shooting was a senseless act perpetrated by a very disturbed individual, and nothing more. This incident, as tragic as it was, does not rise to the state of public rebellion. And trying to spin it into something it’s not is nothing more than political rhetoric that will be used against us. Law abiding citizens do not use their guns in this manner and the politicians know it.
azinamorata

This I know:
If I wanted to shoot someone, or get my hands on a gun, law would not matter, only make it a tad more costly and maybe difficult to get my hands on one. At the same time, if I did not have to register it or fill out pesky forms, or wait at all, perhaps it would be EASIER.

It is like your home in the sense that, if someone wants in, you can secure it all to hell and they will STILL find a way to do it. They will shoot your dog, or poison it, cut lines going to it, break glass, plow down a door, WHATEVER THEY HAVE TO DO. Same with ANY other crime… There is ALWAYS a way. MANY people NEVER even get caught.

In the meantime, if I am not armed and this happens, my chances of defending myself, my family or my friends/neighbors totally SUCK.
Bronco46

This guy would be comfortable as a dictator! He wants to control all facets of our life. He’s cracked down on how much salt we use; but he can’t seem to get salt on the streets of New York. But he did manage to make sure the street he lives on was taken care of. If something isn’t done to stop this guy (vote him out of office) he will take even more control of our lives.
Guns didn’t cause this crime; a deranged person did it. He could used a car, or several other items that can be consider weapons.
The left enjoys piling on these high profile shooting to advance their attempts to encroach on our constitutional rights. Common sense needs to be exercised in these kinds of cases.
felixw

The liberal dream, use this shooting to restrict the first AND second amendments. Just eight more to go, and they don’t need to worry about the pesky Bill of Rights any more. I know Ezra Klein will sign up for that.
Snidely

Now, take my guns. Please. Yeah, Mike, run for President in 2012. You should spend a few $100 million and draw left-leaning non-black independents away from Barak. Go for it!
X-3

Mayor Mike Bloomberg Asks What Could Have Prevented Arizona Shooting, Talks Gun Control

This is why Bloomberg is such a moron. My question to the mayor would be to show us how well stringent gun control laws have worked in NYC.
X-3

azinamorata said:
If I wanted to shoot someone, or get my hands on a gun, law would not matter, only make it a tad more costly and maybe difficult to get my hands on one.

It was said long ago but requires constant repetition: “When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.”