Mayor Bloomberg Calls for Stricter Gun Control
Mayor Michael Bloomberg blasted Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) for the lawmaker’s suggestion Friday that an armed moviegoer could have halted the Colorado movie theater shooting that left a dozen dead and 70 wounded.
“You know, to arm everybody and have the Wild West all the time is one of the more nonsensical things you can say,” Bloomberg said in an interview set to air on CBS’s “Face the Nation” when asked about Gohmert’s argument. “I don’t know what his motives are, I don’t know him and I’m not here to impugn him or anybody else. It just does not make any sense. The bottom line is if we had fewer guns, we would have a lot fewer murders.”
During an interview Friday with the Heritage Foundation’s “Istook Live,” Gohmert suggested that had an armed audience member “could have stopped this guy more quickly.”
“It does make me wonder, you know, with all those people in the theater, was there nobody that was carrying? That could have stopped this guy more quickly?” Gohmert said. “I mean, in Tyler, Texas, we had, in my hometown, we had a shooter come in over a domestic matter and just start shooting people, and it was a guy with a concealed carry. He got killed, but his shooting at this guy caused him to run and no doubt saved a lot of lives. He was a real hero.”
But Bloomberg rejected that argument in his interview with CBS.
”Do you really think that you’d be safe if anyone in the audience could pull out a gun and start shooting? I don’t think so,” Bloomberg said.
On Friday, Bloomberg — a strident anti-gun advocate — criticized presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama for not detailing their beliefs on gun control in the wake of the Colorado tragedy, which has
“I mean, there are so many murders with guns every day — it’s just got to stop,” he continued. “And instead of the two people — President Obama and Gov. Romney — talking in broad things about they want to make the world a better place — OK, tell us how. And this is a real problem. No matter where you stand on the Second Amendment, no matter where you stand on guns, we have a right to hear from both of them concretely, not just in generalities — specifically, what are they going to do about guns?”
Milhouse
Bloomberg’s an idiot, and un-American. In saying that “to arm everybody and have the Wild West all the time is one of the more nonsensical things you can say”, he is explicitly rejecting the founding principle of the USA. As Patrick Henry put it, “The great object is that every man be armed”. If Bloomberg has a problem with that let him go live in Bermuda or somewhere else where the Bill of Rights doesn’t apply. His claim that “if we had fewer guns, we would have a lot fewer murders” is the exact opposite of the truth.
That said, I don’t see how Gohmert thinks an armed moviegoer could have stopped this, since it took place in the dark, clouded by smoke. It may well be that there were several patrons carrying, but they couldn’t do anything. Colorado is the same state where last year a massacre in a church was stopped by an armed worshiper shooting the nutcase.
thank you NRA, blood on your hands!
you kill an astounding amount of fellow americans every year. you are a terrorist organization and have waaaay too much influence politically…we dont need automatic weapons with unlimited number of clips. number of murders stopped by an automatic weapon? almost none. numbers of murders w an automatic weapon? MANY
here are the facts: there are more guns than people in america but only half of americans even own a gun. Of all the gun murders in the 23 richest countries combined, just ONE of those countries is responsible 4 80% of them. guess who!?
NRA member
Bloomberg is an idiot, the bad guys are always going to find a way to get a gun – and then it is the innocent who get hurt. If responsible citizens knew how to use and carried guns, then at least maybe someone could have stopped the psycho before so many were killed and wounded!
NRA member
If Bloomberg really feels that way, he should get rid of his tax payer subsidized armed police escort and walk around like the rest of us, unarmed and helpless in the face of such crazy people and/or terrorists.
Chanie
Opinions are great, when they’re about, for instance, food. “oh, I think pancakes are best!” “well I think cereal and milk is the greatest breakfast.” GUESS what… when it comes to something more serious, like guns, let’s leave opinion out of it and focus on FACTS.
If law-abiding NYC citizens were allowed to carry or have a weapon at home, criminals would be a little more wary and a lot more cautious about a) breaking into a home b) committing a crime in broad daylight, with ppl all around, etc.
Mike, you’re a smart guy. There’s no way you don’t know this. Shake off the denial!
thank you NRA, blood on your hands!
every american should be armed? you ppl are crazy! this is why americans have the most deaths by guns in the world by a HUGE margin. and no, its not american to have guns, thats being a redneck..
dear bart fart simpson
being american is about the right to life liberty and justice. the second ammendment when written was not intended for automatic weapons…automatic weapons are a bane of society.
its also quiet humorous that the pro life contingent on here are so pro gun, where as mentioned above we have the highest deaths by guns by an unprecedented margin among all civilized countries…civilians dont need to be armed to the teeth, thats just ridiculousness, the red states should give it up, the civil war is over, no need to to have a garage full of 50 weapons…
i wonder what the Rebbe would say
is it positive for our society for everyone to carry a firearm? my guess is no, the Rebbe would be vehemently against carrying weapons!
Gun Owner
The highest rates of crime occur in “Gun-Free” zones.
schools, post office, courthouse, inner cities like NY, etc.
When you outlaw guns only outlaws will have guns.
Those are the facts.
thank you NRA, blood on your hands! sounds like he does not have a rational thought in his head.
Andrea Schonberger
Baruch Hashem for #8!!! The Rebbe,OBM, would definetely be against carrying weapons. When I lived overseas in Europe and Korea I never felt safer–civilians are forbidden to carry firearms so if you look cross-eyed at someone you don’t have to worry that they’ll take out their gun and shoot you for supposedly dissing them.
aprpeh
#7. automatic weapons were not used in Aurora, CO. this is a strawman argument. the type of weapons used by Holmes in Colorado are the same sort that the police in every city in America have. They are the same firearms legally used and owned all over America. To the contrary automatic weapons are heavily regulated and heavily taxed. According to the Washington Post article Holmes held “… alleged gunman had three weapons: a Remington shotgun, a Smith & Wesson M&P assault rifle, and a Glock 40-caliber handgun.” “Assault rifle” is a reference to the size of the round that it fires and that it resembles the functioning of a military style weapon. BTW his “assault” rifle jammed thank G-d. Using a tragedy like this to assert a proven falsehood that firearms owners are more dangerous than non-firearm owners is insensitive and disturbing. The shooter is clearly a deranged individual and you seek to ride upon his shoulders.
to #8, really? you speak for the Rebbe? can you even bring a quote or writing where he says what you say? Don’t put your words in his mouth as a matter of derech eretz.
clear concise point
I don’t see any reason why a person needs an automatic rifle with high velocity bullets, lord knows it’s not for hunting!
But of course the pro NRA, redneck, survivalists, anti-govt-types will scream noooo…
Aha
His “soda-control” policy and gun-control policy are rooted in the same belief; namely, that he is smarter than you and will be making your decisions for you. Just wait until this $&@” runs for president.
Nobody
#8, considering that the Frediker Rebbe carried a gun when he was young and in danger, I would say that is projection on your part.
But anyway, the greatness of concealed carry is that not everyone needs to be armed. Just enough that the criminal knows he doesn’t have an easy target.
Critical of New York Judges
Att: #2/6. You are completely out of the loop. The NRA stresses gun safety and controlled usage of guns; the NRA objects to big government taking away a fundamental right protected by the Constitution.
Understand this, there are gun laws in place that would have prevented this, but the bureaucrats are too buzy crying we need more laws because we are too lazy to enforce them; when this perpretuartor of murder started to purchase what he did, the alarm bells should have gone off–noone paid attention.
Bloomberg believes and his left wing liberals that the criminal because of circumstances should not be blaimed and have more rights then law abiding citizens. New York continues to be one of the most unsafe cities in the United States.
#2/6 be advised that the NRA and the AACCA caution in use of deadly force–only if your life or the life of your families is in real danger. If they steal a car–so what, but if they come after you with a gun threatening to kill you then you have to use deadly force. But I suppose you will call Mayor Bloomberg and New York Police for help-but they have a record of non-showing-except at press conferences.
Get it right...
The US, NYC included, is safer and less violent that any time since after WWII. This coincides with a huge increase in gun ownership.
The facts are that firearms kill 9k people in the US per year. MORE THAN HALF of those are suicides. The remaining 4.5k are overwhelmingly related to gang/drug crimes.
The number of homocides committed with LEGAL handguns by their legally registered owners is negligible.
There are hundreds of justifiable homocides committed per year in the course of self-defense, and thousands of crimes averted through the mere PRESENCE of a firearm (without having to ire it, in other words).
So get your facts straight before you start bashing the NRA (which is as old as the United States itself) and the second amendment.
To anyone who knows anything about firearms, Bloomberg and his kind sound like chimps.
Moish
People should NOT be carrying guns, are you people nuts??? I wholeheartedly agree with Bloomberg, it would be absolutely insane to say regular people like you and me should walk around with guns. Get the guns OFF the streets! Period!
People will ChV”S react way to quickly having a firearm on them. It is just unsafe! get all the guns off the streets including the illegal ones, and lock up the gun dealers.
Yossele
The New England Journal of Medicine cites surveys that show firearms prevent or deter 2.5 MILLION crimes PER YEAR in the US.
So there.
speaking for the Rebbe ZT L
#8
Are a spokesman? How do you know? Why you speaking for the Rebbe?
Every situation is different. The Rebbe dreamed and tried to make a realty a world where we didn’t need weapons etc… a world of peace, a world with Moshiach. But the Rebbe still lived with the times. Right now we are in Goles, what the Rebbes opinion on this matter is, neither me your you know!
BTW, next time you feel like eating an ice-cream or donut , think, what would the Rebbe do?
AA
“Why didn’t this mass shooting in Aurora back in April make big news? Because someone else with a gun stopped it quick: http://www.youtube.com/watc…”
(Ezra Levant, https://twitter.com/ezralev…)
Now, then, #2, #6, #7, you were saying?…
And #8, bringing the Rebbe into it based on nothing more than “your guess” is, frankly, despicable. Instead of attributing your own thoughts to the Rebbe, how about doing some research on what he actually said on the topic?
Milhouse
Wow. Just wow. #2, #6, and #7 are probably all the same person, who is almost certainly not a faithful Jew (he refers to “the pro life contingent” as if he is not pro-life himself), is un-American, a slanderer, and is also astonishingly ignorant.
Hey idiot, do you have any idea what an automatic weapon is? Since the 1930s the number of crimes committed in the USA with automatic weapons is zero, or as close to zero as makes no difference.
How dare you call the NRA a terrorist organisation? How would you react if someone called the ACLU one? And yet, as fatuous as such a statement would be, it would have slightly more truth than what you wrote. At least the ACLU has objectively and knowingly helped terrorists, which the NRA has never done.
Counting “gun killings” is inherently dishonest. The USA has more people killed with guns; in countries where murderers find it harder to get guns they use other weapons. What’s the difference? How is a murder committed with a gun worse than one committed in any other way? The difference guns make is that they are the great equaliser. They allow potential victims to protect themselves, and even the odds against criminals, who are usually at an advantage against unarmed victims. If you’re attacked, you’re much better off if both you and the criminal have guns than if you’re both unarmed, and you have to defend yourself with bare hands against a younger and stronger thug.
In any case, what matters is the overall murder rate; America has a relatively high one, but that has been the case for *centuries*, long before gun restrictions were thought of. The major reason for the difference is simply demographics.
#8, what makes you think the Rebbe would be against it? I don’t know of anything relevant in the sichos; do you?
Fed Up
This incident is one more reason why people should not vote for Obama. If Obama has his way, there will be stricter gun control laws and possibly more incidents like these. Say no to politically correct gun control and vote Obama out this coming November. And by the way, the NRA rules.
Wonder of Wonders!
Well, look at it this way, if one was not supporting the theatre industry that evening, they just may be alive today!
Ridiculous
Whether an armed citizen could have stopped the shooter in this case is debatable given the circumstances, but it is clear from cases which take place all over the country that law-abiding citizens in possession of the means to protect themselves and others are the biggest deterrent to criminals of all stripes. If they were afraid of the police or the legal systems that the anti-gun lobby insists will protect us, they wouldn’t be criminals. And if the police did as good a job protecting us as Bloomberg and those like him claim, we wouldn’t be afraid of criminals. Yet we see that neither of those things are true, and the same goes for the idea that more people owning guns legally means more gun-related deaths (because people who commit crimes with guns are criminals and don’t care about doing things legally, obtaining guns included). One wonders whether Bloomberg really assumes none of us are capable of correctly interpreting the statistics.
For the people who try to claim that we are misreading the Second Amendment, a bit of historical context. The American Revolution was the attempt of a colony to throw off its oppressive government. What’s the first step oppressive governments all over the world take in order to subjugate their citizenry? That’s right, they disarm them. Look at China today, or Soviet Russia, or Nazi Germany. You can’t oppress (or commit genocide against) people who have the wherewithal to challenge you. The Founding Fathers knew exactly what they were doing, they meant what they said, and frankly for anyone to come along nowadays and try to rewrite the ideals they could have died for putting on paper (if the war had gone the other way) is insulting.
Obviously nobody can speak for the Rebbe, I wouldn’t have the chutzpah to try. But in terms of Yiddishkeit, Chazal say in the Gemara, “If someone comes to kill you, you should rise up and kill him first.” (Talmud Brachot 58b, 62b, Sanhedrin 72a based on Exodus 22:1) What are you supposed to do if confronted with a threat to your life, say “Excuse me, I just need to go apply for a carry permit, fill out a background check, purchase a gun, and learn to shoot it-I’ll be back in a few days, but in the meantime please don’t kill me or anyone else”? Unless you have taken steps ahead of time and are prepared, Chazal may as well have said what they did to the walls rather than recording it in the Gemara for us to learn, for all the bearing it will have on our lives. Similarly the injunction “Do not stand still when your neighbor’s life is in danger” (Leviticus 19:16). What are you going to be able to do besides stand still (or run and hide) if you are as unarmed as everyone else? The question we should be asking ourselves is not “Is carrying a gun an acceptable thing for a Jew to do?” but rather “Why am I taking the rest of the Torah so seriously (as I should be) and ignoring the pieces that make me uncomfortable, simply because I would rather not think about anyone (G-d forbid) wanting to harm me?”
Milhouse
Background checks do have a possible source in the Torah: the halacha forbids selling weapons to people who seem likely to be criminals. A dealer could just use his judgment, but instant background checks seems to be a better implementation of the same principle.
Milhouse
#10, it’s “insane” to say that? But that’s exactly what the Bill of Rights does say. Maybe it’s also “insane” to say that regular people like you and me should express our opinions, or be presumed innocent when charged with crimes. Arming oneself for ones own defense is a fundamental human right, just like the others listed in the Bill of Rights. It’s an inherent part of the liberty America was built on.
And if it were unsafe to have ordinary people going about armed, then why is it that the places where that happens are safer than the places where the government illegally restricts gun ownership? Why has there never been such an outbreak of bloodshed anywhere it has been tried? Bloomberg talks of the “wild west”; the ignoramus doesn’t know that the old West was in fact remarkably peaceful, precisely because people were armed. An armed society is a polite society.
awacs
“It may well be that there were several patrons carrying, but they couldn’t do anything.”
Actually, no, Milhouse – the theater was a gun-free zone, determined by the owner. Just like Columbine. Just like Virginia Tech. Dunno if Mr. Holmes knew that, or relied on that, but it sure made it easier for him – knowing that his targets unarmed and helpless ..
Go-ds right hand man
A gun isn’t wrong the psyche of the owner/possessor can be, yet in the USA on American soil each citizen has a right to bear arms !
Derech eretz karma ltorah !
The USA exists during an era after shushan Purim, remember your rights and protect them if necessary !
The politicians are public servants with obligations, forgive them if they aren’t able to improve the places they represent !
Reality
Sorry there are a lot of people with little to lose !
Shalom
The Movie is completely to blame for putting the dumb idea into the head of the shooter in the first place! Why not put the guns in Jail? There is a certain denial of responsibility on the part of movie makers and hollywood that seeks to pass off their part in this to gun owners. Perhaps we should put the army in Jail? The premise makes no sense.
RJ898
Here is the result of gun control:
http://static.infowars.com/…
If guns are responsible for killing people, I blame misspelled words on my pencil.
Rabbi Green
Bloomberg can talk all he wants outside NY city nobody listen to him. We have a right to bear arms no matter what Bloomberg says or thinks. And we don’t want to hear him talking if i see him on tv i put the tv on a different channel.
Zevy
Bloomberg is dangerous-its not the gun that kills, its the person carrying the gun. Rep. Golmert is right- a sane person in the audience, who was carrying a gun for self protection, could have stopped this massacre right away, instead of everyone being shot like sheep to the slaughter