Bloomberg Strikes Again

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been making quite a name for himself with his anti-gun antics. (The first name that comes to my mind has seven letters and begins with an "A.") His latest media event was the unveiling of his new crusade against "coloration kits," which he believes are intended to "make guns look like toys." "Just think about how sick it is," Bloomberg said. "What possible reason can you give to want to paint a gun so it looks like a child’s toy gun, other than to put a police officer in one of those impossible positions? "People will do a lot of twisted things to make a buck," he says about companies that sell firearms finishes. "This probably sets anew low and we are going to stop it." The penalty for violating his ban on the use or sale of "gun-coloration kits" is a year behind bars and/or a $1,000 fine.

The legislation will be put to the New York City Council around the time this issue goes to press. At Bloomberg’s press conference, he displayed a variety of products in bright fluorescent shades from three companies we know well’KG Industries, Brownells, and Lauer Custom Weaponry. Joe Fazio, owner of KG Industries, told a New York Daily News reporter he found the mayor’s rebuke "slanderous." "It’s unfortunate that Mayor Bloomberg chose to disparage good people for his own political gain.

He knows nothing about my business, Fazio said. Steven Lauer of Lauer Custom Weaponry said, "I’m not aware of anybody ever using our product to do something other than good." Lauer said his company offers 80 different colors and that they’re used by hunters, competition shooters, rangemasters, and governments.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) and Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens) voiced strong support for the legislation and the mayor’s crusade. "We want to do everything we can to circle wagons around the problem of guns in our city and make sure we are on the cutting edge of preventing the flow of illegal guns into this city, Quinn said. Personally, I’m sure I must have missed something in Bloomberg’s argument that brightly colored guns create an additional risk for policemen.

But, if you use a firearm in robbing a liquor store, I’m allin favor of adding extra prison time and a heftier fine if your gun is painted fluorescent orange. That’s just plain tacky. Anyway, I’ll let you ponder the mayor’s wisdom while you read Chick’s article on TR Gun Cote, which begins on page 7 of this issue. Editor Keith Lawrence Technical