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Another Of Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors Bites The Dust

September 14, 2017 by 1 Comment

Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors has gained another member. Mayor Ed Murray of Seattle resigned effective as of 5 pm PDT today. He has been accused of child molestation by at least five men.

From Oregon Public Radio:

The resignation comes after a younger cousin accused him of sexual abuse in the 1970s.

The Seattle Times reports that Joseph Dyer, 54, accuses Murray of repeatedly molesting him when he was a teenager.

Dyer is the fifth man to accuse the mayor of such abuse.

Murray has repeatedly denied allegations of sexual abuse. He has said in the past that accusations from four men were part of a right-wing political agenda to take him down. According to the Times, Murray said the latest accusation is false and is likely because of a family rift.

Dyer says Murray forced him into sex while they shared a bedroom in Dyer’s childhood home, according to the Times. Dyer says he was 13 years old at the time. Murray lived with Dyer’s family in New York after his mother passed away.

Dyer has provided a signed declaration to a Seattle lawyer representing Delvonn Heckard, the man who sued Murray earlier this year for repeatedly raping him in the 1980s. The lawsuit has since been withdrawn but Heckard has filed a claim for damages against the city of Seattle.

Murray denies the claims of molestation but nonetheless has resigned. I hate to say it but you don’t publicly accuse someone of child molestation over a mere family rift. Dyer, Murray’s cousin, provided a signed declaration to the attorney representing Delvonn Heckard who had also accused Murray of molestation.

I don’t know if the statute of limitations has passed or not. However, child molestation is one of the most sordid of crimes especially when done by either a family member or someone in a position of authority. Murray was a family member of Dyer and a counselor to the other men. Resignation from his mayoral post and deciding not to run for re-election seems to me an effort on the part of Murray to hide as much of these incidents as possible.

I hope these men get the justice that they deserve. Three years ago the headline in the Seattle Times read, “Big winners: gun control and Mayor Ed Murray.” How times have changed in Seattle for at least one of these two.

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It’s Deja Vu All Over Again

August 17, 2014 by 1 Comment

I have lost count of the number of Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors that have been indicted for some violation of the public trust. So when it comes to adding another one to the list, it just seems like deja vu all over again (with apologies to Yogi Berra).

On Friday, Monticello (NY) Village Mayor Gordon Jenkins was arrested and placed in the Sullivan County Jail along with the village’s building inspector.

His crimes?

Both men were charged with bribe receiving, criminal mischief, two counts of conspiracy, both felonies, as well as misdemeanors of three counts of official misconduct, criminal nuisance, and under the Department of Environmental Conservation law, endangering public health or safety.

Jenkins was also charged with intimidating a witness as a felony in connection with an incident in Fallsburg.

Bribery, conspiracy, witness intimidation.

What is with this group of mayors? Do they think that they can get away with a slew of felonies just so long as they didn’t use a firearm in the commission of their crimes?

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A Big City Mayor Arrested…And He’s Not A MAIG Member

March 26, 2014 by

Michael Bloomberg and Mark Glaze must be giving a big sigh of relief. A big city mayor was arrested today on corruption charges and the big distinction in all of it was that he wasn’t a member of (former) Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors.

Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon (D) was arrested on charges that he took bribes and Vegas trips from undercover FBI agents five times. These bribes were in the tens of thousand of dollar range and he was asking for $1 million more. The 48 page Federal criminal complaint can be found here.

From the Charlotte Observer:

Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon was arrested Wednesday on public corruption charges, with the FBI alleging he took tens of thousands of dollars in bribes – including $20,000 in cash delivered in a briefcase last month to the mayor’s office where he also solicited $1 million more.

In return for the money, trips, hotel rooms and access to a luxury SouthPark apartment, Cannon promised to help agents posing as potential commercial investors with zoning, parking and other city-related issues.

If convicted on all charges, Cannon could face up to fifty years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.
 

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Mayors Demand Illegal Moms

December 19, 2013 by 1 Comment

Or is it Illegal Mayors Demand Action (with) Moms?

More appropriately, Moms Demand Action Against Illegal Mayors.

In case you haven’t heard, Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors and I’m Just a Stay-at-Home Mom Shannon Watt’s Demanding Moms have agreed to merge.

From USA Today:

Outgoing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns on Thursday will announce that it is joining with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a year-old grassroots campaign launched the day after the Dec. 14, 2012, shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

The combined group will align Bloomberg’s deep pockets with the strong social network and media savvy the mothers’ group brings. The billionaire founder of Bloomberg News said last week that he’ll “devote extensive resources of my own” to the effort.

In a statement Wednesday, Bloomberg said, “Gun violence is, unfortunately, an issue that affects every community, and coming together with Moms Demand Action today will strengthen our efforts to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals and save lives.”

As Say Uncle noted last night when he first reported this story, “Except that there is no grassroots and there is no high profile.”

California gun rights attorney Chuck Michel compared this merger to when the Brady Campaign and the Million Mom March merged except this time they’ll have Bloomberg’s deep pockets. From the same USA Today article, he said:

“This seems analogous to a corporate takeover, where a large company sees the advantage of acquiring the social media and brand of a target company, but their agendas are the same. In this case, their anti-Second Amendment agendas won’t change,” he says.

There is no word yet from Mr. Gabby Giffords who I imagine is a bit miffed that Bloomberg didn’t pick them as a merger partner.

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic) calls this a “game changer” on their Facebook page because they think it will give gun control “a fully-funded national grassroots movement.” Yeah, right but Josh and Ladd are still stuck in an office above a coffee shop.

* The headline is courtesy of a tweet by Gene Hoffman.

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In Other Election News…

November 7, 2013 by 3 Comments

The big races yesterday were in New Jersey and Virginia. Others have covered those races and I won’t bother to rehash them other than to say than to say, despite the different party tags, neither winner is a friend of gun owners and their rights.

Despite all the media attention focused on Chris Christie, Terry McAuliffe, Ken Cuccinelli, and that Sandinista elected to replace Bloomberg, there were elections at the local level in many areas of the country.

Bitter at Shall Not Be Questioned examines the results in Pennsylvania as they impact gun rights here.

In North Carolina, municipal elections are usually held in odd years and there were a number of elections across the state involving mayors belonging to Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors. According to their website, there are currently 15 misguided mayors in North Carolina who have lent their names to that effort. Out of those 15 cities, 12 had elections yesterday. The other three held their elections in 2011 and weren’t due until 2015.  The incumbent mayors of Carrboro and Emerald Isle did not run for re-election.

This left 10 elections in which a MAIG member was up for re-election. The mayors of Carolina Shores, Chapel Hill, Creedmoor, East Spencer, and Hillsborough faced no opposition except for possible write-in candidates. Thus, only five of the 15 MAIG mayors faced any real opposition.

So how did they fare?

In the cities of Durham and Winston-Salem respectively, incumbent Mayors Bill Bell and Allen Joines cruised to re-election with 80% plus majorities. The Mayor of Oxford, Jackie Sargent, squeaked through in a 3-way election but with less than a majority.

That leaves the mayors of Greensboro and Morrisville who both lost. While gun control was not an issue in the overwhelming defeat of Greensboro Mayor Robbie Perkins by Nancy Barakat Vaughn, it most certainly was an issue in Morrisville.

Morrisville Mayor Jackie Holcombe was quite outspoken in her support for gun control.

Holcombe has drawn the ire of both the National Rifle Association and Grassroots NC for asking Gander Mountain to stop selling semi-automatic rifles at its local store and for joining the Mayors Against Illegal Guns lobbying group.

Holcombe also pushed and failed to find ways for Morrisville to evade state law regarding concealed carry in city parks, greenways, and athletic fields. As such, she incurred the wrath of Grass Roots North Carolina and its Political Victory Fund which actively worked for her opponent Councilman Mark Stohlman who was pro-gun.

I don’t know if Holcombe’s anti-gun stance made the difference but she lost to Stohlman in the 3-way race by almost 100 votes.

With the defeats in Greensboro and Morrisville, the number of Illegal Mayors has been reduced to 13. I don’t know where the new mayors of Carrboro and Emerald Isle stand on gun rights. It may be if we are lucky that they don’t want anything to do with that organization. We’ll just have to wait and see.

To sum up, gun owners came out a little better after the election than before. Since most of the mayors in North Carolina who belong to Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors represent small cities and towns, a concerted local lobbying effort might reduce the number even more. It’s worth a try.

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A Coalition Serves Freedom Of Information Request On Bloomberg

June 27, 2013 by 3 Comments

A coalition consisting of the Second Amendment Foundation, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and Tom Gresham of Gun Talk have served a Freedom of Information Law request on the City of New York to provide all records concerning Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors and the use of city funds to support the group. It is an effort to smoke out just how much the citizens of the City of New York are paying for Bloomberg’s pet project.

From the SAF release:

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today has filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request with the City of New York for all records relating to Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, after newspaper allegations that city resources have been used for MAIG’s gun control efforts.

SAF is being joined in the request by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and Tom Gresham, host of the nationally-syndicated “Gun Talk.”

“It was bad enough to learn via CBS News that the MAIG website was being hosted on a city-owned server, and administered by city employees,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “but it also appears that a special counselor in the mayor’s office was sent to lobby in Nevada on behalf of MAIG’s gun control agenda.”

The New York Post and Politico both published reports that Mayor Bloomberg sent Christopher Kocher to Nevada, and that in an apparent attempt to conceal who he worked for, Kocher “scrubbed his City Hall e-mail address from the state of Nevada lobbying-registration Web site early this month.”

“The public has a right to know what’s been going on between Bloomberg, the city and MAIG,” Gottlieb explained. “Gun control is Bloomberg’s pet peeve, and he’s been pushing an anti-gun agenda since sending so-called private investigators on a sting operation to gun shops all over the country, which got him in trouble with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.”

“There certainly appears to be a serious problem in Bloomberg’s administration,” Gresham added. “Evidently, the mayor and his staff have a gross misunderstanding of how the taxpayers’ money should be spent, and that should not include sending New York employees around the country to lobby for Bloomberg’s pet projects.”

The request was filed by SAF Special Projects Director Philip Watson, for the following information:

1. All electronic records related to Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the website MayorsAgainstIllegalGuns.org, including, but not limited to:


  • a. All electronic files saved on city servers

  • b. All Emails to or from users at the domain MayorsAgainstIllegalGuns.org

  • c. All current and former employees, officials, outside contractors, and volunteers with access to the website MayorsAgainstIllegalGuns.org

  • d. All current and former Email users and usernames that have had access to send or receive Email from @MayorsAgainstIllegalGuns.org


2. Any and all records related to Mayors Against Illegal Guns electronic files, including, but not limited to:


  • a. Emails

  • b. Any written documents

  • c. Any records describing processes for cooperation with this group

  • d. Any records describing how received communications with this group are processed

  • e. All employee pay or overtime related to cooperation or time spent with this group

  • f. Official names, titles, and contact information of all employees, officials, outside contractors, and volunteers involved with domain hosting, creation, maintenance, and communication for MayorsAgainstIllegalGuns.org

  • g. All costs incurred by the City of New York for creation, maintenance, domain hosting, and communication for MayorsAgainstIllegalGuns.org


3. Any and all records of communication since January 1, 2002 between any city official, employee, or volunteer and any gun control advocacy organization, including, but not limited to:


  • a. Mayors Against Illegal Guns

  • b. Demand A Plan

  • c. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

  • d. Center for Gun Policy and Research

  • e. Ceasefire

  • f. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

  • g. Coalition to Stop Gun Violence

  • h. Joyce Foundation

  • i. Violence Policy Center

  • j. Legal Community Against Violence

  • k. Million Mom March

“The man is obsessed,” Gottlieb continued, “and if he’s spent so much as a dime of public money on what amounts to a private crusade, Mayor Bloomberg needs to be held accountable for that.”

Gottlieb has called on New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to launch a full-scale investigation into the mayor’s potential misuse of public resources for his own private war on gun owners. He renewed that call today.

“If Eric Schneiderman won’t investigate Bloomberg for possible misuse of public funds,” Gottlieb said, “we will. The mayor has been acting increasingly like a self-appointed monarch, but this still the United States, not Bloomberg’s personal fiefdom.”

Given that other states and cities have strong freedom of information laws and given that there are a number of cities with a mayor belonging to MAIG, I think this provides a nice template for a grass roots effort to smoke out the use of public funds to promote gun control efforts. These politicians are like cockroaches and hate to see the light of day shone on their activities.

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Make That Former MAIG Member

June 23, 2013 by 3 Comments

Mayor Larry Morrissey of Rockford, Illinois was a member of Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors in good standing. Even this morning their website showed him as a member of their “coalition” as you can see in the screenshot below.

I say “was a member” because Mayor Morrissey not only dropped out of MAIG yesterday but has indicated that he will be seeking a concealed carry permit as soon as it finally becomes law in the state of Illinois. His decision to seek a concealed carry permit is due to his receiving death threats in office for which the Rockford PD provided him extra protection.

As he told the Rockford Register Star, “I don’t want to put my family’s life at risk or my own life at risk if I can otherwise protect myself.”

Regarding his decision to quit Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors, he had this to say:

“The reason why I joined the group in the first place was because I took the name for what it said, against illegal guns,” Morrissey said.

Morrissey said he didn’t expect the organization to get involved with banning magazine clips or “assault” weapons.

“As the original mission swayed, that’s when I decided it was no longer in line with my beliefs,” Morrissey said.

You have to wonder how many other mayors across the country were sold the line that all MAIG wanted to do was prevent criminals from having firearms as opposed to preventing everyone but Mayor Bloomberg’s personal protection team from having firearms.

In the meantime, Mayor Morrissey should be congratulated on the wisdom of his decision to not only distance himself from MAIG but to step and provide the protection himself for he and his family. If you want to congratulate him, contact information is found here.

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A Warm Tar Heel Welcome Planned For MAIG’s Anti-Freedom Riders

June 22, 2013 by 4 Comments

Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors is bringing their 100 city bus tour to Raleigh, NC tomorrow at 9am. Unlike the Freedom Riders of the 1960s, this bus tour is seeking to curtail your civil rights which is why I call them the “anti-Freedom Riders”. Grass Roots North Carolina plans a nice, warm Tar Heel welcome for Bloomberg’s minions.

From GRNC:


Let’s give Bloomberg’s radicals a ‘welcome’ they won’t forget!


As you may have heard, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” (MAIG) recently began a 100-city bus tour to push for federal gun bans. Although Bloomberg keeps the bus schedule secret to avoid actually hearing what people want, we have learned that the MAIG bus tour will hit Raleigh at 9:00 AM on Saturday.


It’s time to show the media and the world that Bloomberg does not speak for the nation by showing up at GRNC’s “MAIG Counter Demonstration.” Yes, the notice is short. No, you probably don’t have time, or you have something else scheduled. . .


Be there anyway!


DETAILS


When:
Saturday, June 22 at 9:00 AM


Where:
Moore Square, Raleigh, NC, 27601
(Moore Sq. at the corner of Martin St. & Person St.)


What:
A peaceful counter protest to deliver a message to the media that “Guns Save Lives!”


Beforehand:


If you think you can make it, please let us know how many people you are bringing by emailing: President@GRNC.org


From the east: I-40E to Ex. 299 (Hammond Rd) toward Person St. Go 0.3 mi & turn left toward Hammond Rd. Go 108 ft & left onto Hammond Rd. Go 0.7 mi & continue onto S Person St. Go 1.0 mi & turn left onto E Martin St. Destination will be on the right.


DEMONSTRATION GUIDELINES


  1. Firearms are prohibited by law at demonstrations and protests.
  2. Dress for the press: Please avoid wearing anything which allows the media to depict us as the radicals rather than our opposition (e.g. shirts with slogans which could be construed as racist, etc.)
  3. Keep signs on message: GRNC will have a large number of lime green “Guns Save Lives!” signs which are highly effective at showing up on TV cameras, but you are free to bring your own. However, please don’t use signs which could be used to depict us in a negative light, and stick to the pro-gun message.
  4. This is a peaceful counter demonstration: Do not engage in heckling or other altercations with the opposition.

UPDATE: Kahr40 attended the event and has some pictures up on his blog here. I know Sean was there but he hasn’t posted on it yet.

UPDATE II: WRAL in Raleigh covered the event and gave time to both sides. Thanks to Sean for posting a link to the video below.

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Has Bloomberg Bought Another Western State?

June 4, 2013 by

Yesterday, the Nevada State Assembly passed universal background checks by a vote of 23 yea to 19 nay and sent it to Gov. Brian Sandoval (R-NV) for his signature or veto. The text of the bill as enrolled can be found here.

One of the most contentious bills of the day was Senate Bill 221, sponsored by Sen. Justin Jones, D-Las Vegas, to require background checks on private gun sales.

The bill appeared dead early Monday, but in an unexpected move, the Assembly Judiciary Committee approved it on a 7-5 vote.

The full Assembly then voted 23-19 to send it to Sandoval despite his promise to veto the measure. Four Democrats joined with all 15 Republicans in opposing the measure.

The bill previously passed the Senate on an 11-10 party-line vote with Democrats in support.

Multiple reports indicate that Gov. Sandoval will veto this bill. That has not stopped Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors from running ads asking people to call the governor and asking him to sign it. Moreover, they are saying that “86% of Nevada voters” support the bill.

The other day I wrote about how certain legislators were expecting substantial campaign contributions as a result of pushing Bloomberg’s bill.

It is obvious from the lists below, that Bloomberg saturated Carson City with lobbyists. There are a total of 63 legislators in both houses of the Nevada Legislature. Examining the list of lobbyists below for Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors, I see a total of 13 paid lobbyists or one lobbyist for every 4.85 legislators. An asterisk after the lobbyist name indicates that he or she is a paid lobbyist. Bloomberg had no volunteer lobbyists.

By contrast, you have three paid lobbyists and three volunteer lobbyists for the pro-rights side. Besides the NRA, you had the Nevada Firearms Coalition and the Stillwater Firearms Association. The Nevada Firearms Association is the state affiliate of the NRA. As they themselves note, they relied on the NRA-ILA to handle things in the legislature until recently. The Stillwater Firearms Association is a non-profit that puts on classes, organizes shooting competitions, and manages a shooting range in Fallon, NV.

From an outsider’s perspective, it appears that Mayor Bloomberg overwhelmed the grassroots organizations with money, ads, and paid lobbyists just like he did in Colorado. Unlike Colorado, having a Republican governor may be enough to stop this in its tracks. A veto of the bill cannot be overriden by either house of the Nevada Legislature.

While it is past time to have made your voice heard, we still have a chance with Gov. Sandoval. I’d emphasize that this measure won’t stop crime and would not have prevented the Newtown shootings. Moreover, if you are not a state resident but have visited Reno, Las Vegas, or other gambling locations, make that known along with your determination not to spend your money in a state that doesn’t believe in your civil rights.

Contact information for Gov. Sandoval is located here.

One final reminder: be firm but respectful.

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I’m Sure This Will Work Well….Or Not

June 2, 2013 by 3 Comments

Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC) is one of the few remaining Blue Dog Democrats in the House of Representatives. He was A-rated and endorsed by the NRA-PVF in the 2012 general election. He defeated State Senator David Rouzer by a mere 654 votes to win re-election. There is no way to tell for sure but the NRA-PVF endorsement might just have been the edge McIntyre needed to squeak by in his conservative district in southeast NC.

The picture below was tweeted by K. Meera Bhardwaj of Carrboro, North Carolina on Thursday. Her LinkedIn profile identifies her as the Regional Organizing Director for Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors. From my experience living in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area, Carrboro is where those who are even too far Left for liberal Chapel Hill live. Things may have changed since I lived down in the Triangle but I doubt it.

The picture is captioned “2 gun owners, 4 parents, 2 kids, and 7 voters @DemandAction at @MikeMcIntyreNC’s office today!”

All I can say is that I hope Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors continues hiring organizers who have no clue about the area in which they are sent to work. Contrast this with the intimate knowledge that people like ISRA’s Richard Pearson and the NRA’s Todd Vandermyde brought to the battle for concealed carry in Illinois. Or, if we want to talk about North Carolina, that Grass Roots North Carolina and Paul Valone have brought to the battle for gun rights in this state.