Tom Suozzi’s attempts to inject gun control into the Nassau County Executive race isn’t helping him. Latest polling puts him down by 17%.
Month: October 2013
Saratoga dog-and-pony show with Giffords
Eric Schneiderman will host a dog-and-pony show with Gabrielle Giffords at the Saratoga gun show this Sunday. The show promoter has apparently decided to be the AGs willing accomplice in this farce:
“… “Gabby is going to come with her husband to look over our show and see what a model gun show is like in New York State and the attorney general is going to have them as guest and we are going to wonder around and show her what our operation is,” says [David] Petronis … “New York is very strict on gun shows, California may have something similar, but nothing is like what New York has,” Petronis says … “I guess we run a pretty good show. I am glad that we have the opportunity to have her here, I am proud of it to be honest with you it’s a good feeling to have someone come to what you have developed and to have them think you are a model for maybe the rest of the country,” he says …”
That is exactly what Schneiderman wants him to be, the model for ending all private transfers nationwide. Petronis would do well to remember what happened to Smith & Wesson and more recently the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show when they tried sucking up to antigun interests.
Bloomberg is never going away
Mayor Bloomberg is leaving office at the end of the year, but he’s made it clear he is not going to go away:
“Michael Bloomberg makes no secret of his ambition. “I want to do things that nobody else is doing,” he told TIME … Officially Bloomberg was still acting as a political office-holder, but in practice the outgoing three-term mayor of New York City had already begun his next life, a jet-setting blur of wealth, power and international recognition. In 2013, Bloomberg plans to spend about $400 million on pet causes … “A lot of elected officials are afraid to back controversial things. I’m not afraid of that,” he said. “You’re not going to hurt my business, and if you are, I don’t care. I take great pride in being willing to stand up.” …”
MAIG members dropping out
One bright spot
Joe Lhota brought up the gun issue:
“Addressing a group of Tea Party members on Staten Island, Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota called for a streamlining of the city’s gun permit system, saying it should be “fair and speedy.” “The city of New York, though, goes to an extreme with their, bureaucracy is not even strong enough of a word. It’s almost a level of harassment at a certain point and it needs to change,” Lhota says at the April 25 meeting on Staten Island. “There’s something that should be fair and speedy about being able to get a gun permit.” …”
Bill de Blasio was astounded by this:
“… “I was astounded to hear Mr. Lhota talk about how we can make gun access easier. I found that entirely out of step with the views of the people of New York City. We’re having a searing debate over gun control right now, particularly in the wake of the Newtown tragedy,” de Blasio told reporters, saying he agrees with Mayor Bloomberg on many weapons-regs issues …”
With a more than 3-1 lead in the polls, de Blasio is going to squash Lhota like a bug. There is a small silver lining to this:
“Bill de Blasio … said Thursday that one of the first things he’d do as mayor is fire Taxi & Limousine Commissioner David Yassky …”
Yassky wrote the Brady Law. He ended up at the TLC after his humiliating loss back in ’09. With less than a month to go befote the election, we’ll soon find out if de Blasio will keep his word.
The difference between endorsements
Here’s Noam Bramson proudly touting his endorsement from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence:
Happening now: Noam is being endorsed by @NYAGV1 at the County Center pic.twitter.com/Nv1w4A5yGn
— Noam Bramson (@NoamBramson) October 8, 2013
As far as I can tell, the only media attention this has received is at The Daily Voice. The Journal News didn’t bother covering it and they hate guns.
By contrast, gun endorsements receive coverage at the Schenectady Daily Gazette, Buffalo News, Register-Star and The Saratogian.
Update: The Journal News finally got around to mentioning it.
2A forum at Brunswick Sportsmen
Bloomberg backs Booker
Mayor Mike is spending big to help Corey Booker win a special election in New Jersey:
“… As his allies move to shore up what was supposed to be a painless path to Congress, the biggest and wealthiest of them, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, will start spending more than $1 million on Monday to broadcast television commercials on Mr. Booker’s behalf, a vast sum to pour into a single candidacy …”
That’s more than the $350,000 he put into the Colorado recall, but the NYC media market is also much more expensive.
Despite Booker’s involvement with MAIG and NRA’s endorsement of opponent Steve Lonegan, the ads don’t focus on guns:
“… The advertisement focuses on Booker’s primary message: that he is a pragmatic leaders who can get things done. “As mayor, he brought together Republicans, the private sector and community leaders,” says the spot, which describes Booker as “a leader to put progress ahead of partisanship …”
Lawsuit update
Tom speaking at yesterday’s motorcycle rally in Albany about SAFE Act litigation.
Donations for the NYSRPA legal defense fund can be made here.