NRA is taking at shot at Utica Mayor David Roefaro. The Observer-Dispatch reports:
“Members of the National Rifle Association and the administration of Mayor David Roefaro verbally fired back and forth Wednesday, after an NRA mailer targeting the mayor showed up in some city mailboxes. The mailer focused on the Roefaro’s involvement of “Mayors Against Illegal Guns,” … “They claim they are for illegal guns, yet every single one of their proposals goes after law-abiding gun-owners,” said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulandam …”
The Mayor’s response is amusing:
“… “Andrew’s obviously speaking on behalf of an organization that has lost touch with not only the roots of the second amendment but also the roots of public safety,” said Roefaro …”
Roefaro is up for re-election in ’11.
Question: Is Mayors Against Illegal Guns a pseudonym to provide cover for a group of government officials whose purpose, intentional or not, is to violate the rights of law abiding gun owners?
If so they might be violating RICO statutes originally intended to fight organized crime but applicable to groups that violate civil rights.
That line of thinking is going nowhere.
Question:
Going nowhere because they don’t violate our rights or because federal prosecutors wouldn’t investigate?
Both.
Not sure about this but I believe that if the effect of their group is the
deprivation of anyones civil rights regardless of whether or not they intended it
then it can be considered a violation of law. As far as getting DOJ to investigate, it’s higly unlikely under the current administration.
Question: If it’s your belief that MAIG doesn’t violate the rights of law abiding gun owners, why are they an issue on the BLOG so frequently?
Didn’t say they don’t violate our rights. I said RICO is a deadend.
You’re a busy competent guy and we owe you a debt for doing what you do. I guess you didn’t intend to say that they don’t violate our rights. Personally I don’t know whether they do or not but If successful they certainly have the potential to.
You may be right that RICO is a dead end. Because the political will to use it in this case doesn’t exist.