Bloomberg Saves His Sinking Ship

by
posted on August 31, 2015
bloomberg-saves-his-sinking-ship.jpg

Oregon’s recently passed background check law, which went into effect Aug. 9, is running into serious problems, prompting one billionaire gun-banner to fork over mega bucks just to promote the law.

The state’s so-called “universal” background check law is floundering right out of the box—something big-bucks gun-hater Michael Bloomberg’s ego just can’t handle. So in an unheard-of move, Bloomberg is spending “six figures” to promote the law with television commercials in the Eugene and Portland markets—after it has already been passed and implemented!

More and more Americans are becoming aware of how the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) has repeatedly failed to stop the perpetrators of high-profile crimes from obtaining their crime guns (including, recently, in Charleston, S.C., and Lafayette, La.). Small wonder, then, that a number of Oregon law enforcement officials, faced with limited resources and the constant pressures of serious person and property crimes, have decided the new background check law is low on their list of priorities, if it even makes the list at all. Small wonder, then, that a number of Oregon law enforcement officials, faced with limited resources and the constant pressures of serious person and property crimes, have decided the new background check law is low on their list of priorities, if it even makes the list at all. 

In fact, Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel recently told Oregon Public Radio that his office would not be making the new law a priority.

“At the end of the day it boils down to money,” Sheriff Daniel told OPR. “We just don’t have the funds right now to support certain levels of enforcement. We talk about person crimes, which are certainly going to be top on our priority list, and then we go down to property crime, second on our list. Then you go down to a background check type of a law, which is really not a person crime or a property crime.”

And while Bloomberg and others anti-gunners have promoted the new laws as the end-all answer to violent gun violence, Sheriff Daniel predicts it will have more of an effect on law-abiding Oregonians than violent criminals.

“They’re going to get (a gun) anyway,” he said. “That’s the bottom line. This process of having the people that are law abiding, and they want to transfer guns, go through the system, is fine. But the bad people are going to get the guns regardless. So I truly think it’s a waste of time.”

In addition to a lack of law-enforcement support in some parts of the state, the law is also hitting roadblocks with the federal firearms licensees needed to do such background check for sales even among close friends.

According to a feature story in the Eugene Register-Guard, a representative for the Fred Meyer chain has said that company will not conduct private sale background checks at its 20 stores that sell guns. Most local stores contacted by the newspaper said they would conduct the checks—for a $20 to $50 fee.

Joe Williams, who owns The Gun Works Muzzleloading Emporium in Springfield, told the Register-Guard that he hasn’t yet decided on a fee amount, but he said he was willing to provide the service “at the moment.”

Calling state police to do a check has taken him up to 45 minutes in the past, however, Williams added, and he would stop doing checks “if it becomes too much of a headache. That’s 45 minutes of my life I never get back,” he said.

The lack of law enforcement support and questionable access to FFLs to conduct the background checks has apparently frustrated Bloomberg enough that he’s willing to drop a couple hundred thousand bucks to try to buy some goodwill for the law on television. Which begs the question, “Why?”

And we know the answer: Advocates of civilian disarmament know that they cannot succeed unless the government knows which Americans actually own firearms. That process starts with creating a record of every firearm transfer. Thus, despite the consistent failure of the current background check system to make a difference when it matters most, gun prohibitionists want to make a NICS check mandatory each time a gun changes hands.

This path to firearm registration is one most Americans strongly oppose. But as the situation in Oregon proves, that fact won’t stop Bloomberg from spending his millions to continue pushing us farther down that road.

Use Your Power!

Michael Bloomberg may be a financial heavy hitter, but he’s got nothing on millions of NRA members. Take your support for the Second Amendment to the next level by joining NRA’s Ring of Freedom. To be one of the elite, call 877-NRA-GIVE (672-4483) or click here.

Latest

CWTNRA2023 1
CWTNRA2023 1

This is What Empowering Women Really Looks Like

With gun ownership on the rise throughout the nation, women are one huge demographic that has seen noticeable growth in this area. Such is why one NRA firearms instructor built a self-defense training company that caters exclusively to women.

What’s Next for Oregon?

When a circuit court judge imposed a permanent injunction against Oregon’s anti-freedom measure last week, it was just the latest skirmish in a year-long, up-and-down battle against the sweeping, poorly conceived law.

The Armed Citizen® December 4, 2023

True stories of the right to keep and bear arms.

NRA 2023 Year In Review

None of this would be possible without the enduring support of NRA members.

A Fact Check of Gov. Newsom and Gov. DeSantis on Crime and Guns

To paraphrase the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, they are entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts.

Interests



Get the best of America's 1st Freedom delivered to your inbox.