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Bloomberg 'Uses City Resources to Support Anti-Gun Group'

by Melanie Batley

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been diverting city resources toward initiatives promoted by the national gun-control group he helped form, according to a new report.

The New York Post reported Tuesday that a city employee was sent to Nevada to lobby on behalf of Mayors Against Illegal Guns as legislators there were considering a bill requiring background checks on all commercial gun sales.

"It doesn't seem kosher to me," Gene Russianoff of the New York Public Interest Research Group, told the Post. "It's hard to see how gun control in Nevada makes the city safer in New York."

An aide to Bloomberg argued that city governments often lobby state and national leaders on issues related to a city's well-being, from mass transit to healthcare. However, critics, including Russianoff, say Nevada is not a jurisdiction that impacts the Big Apple.

Meanwhile, staffers for Mayors Against Illegal Guns are using the ninth floor of the Mayor's Office of Contract Services, and the group's website is hosted through the city's computer server system, the Post reports.

A City Hall spokesman said the group is allowed to make use of New York resources becase gun-control efforts are in the best interest of the city.

"With 85 percent of guns used in crimes here coming from out of state, gun policy everywhere has an impact on the safety of New Yorkers," John McCarthy told The Post.

"The mayor's top priority is keeping New Yorkers safe, and that includes seeking sane gun laws in other states . . . to help reduce the flow of illegal guns to New York."

© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Bloomberg 'Uses City Resources to Support Anti-Gun Group'
http://www.newsmax.com/US/Bloomberg-Nevada-guns-New-York/2013/06/25/id/511780

John Hames