{"id":3902,"date":"2011-04-28T15:45:20","date_gmt":"2011-04-28T19:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gunpoliticsny.com\/?p=3902"},"modified":"2011-04-28T15:45:20","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T19:45:20","slug":"walmart-smokescreen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gunpoliticsny.com\/?p=3902","title":{"rendered":"Walmart smokescreen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some loudmouth politicians are trying to make hay out of Walmart’s decision to start selling firearms<\/a> in more of its stores again. \u00a0PolitickerNY reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“A coalition of anti-gun advocates are calling on Mayor Bloomberg<\/a> this morning to join them in rejecting Walmart’s plans to expand to New York City in light of a report that the big box retailer is trying to increase its sales of guns and ammunition as a way to boost its bottom line … “Wal-Mart has shown exactly what its promises are worth by reneging on its commitment to Mayor Bloomberg’s national gun control campaign<\/a>,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio<\/a> … “The Walmart charm offensive ends today with news that the conglomerate plans to expand considerably the sale of weapons and ammunition,” said Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer<\/a>. “If the city wants to remain a leader on gun control, we need to take a hard stand against Walmart’s decision and make it clear that any corporation that looks for new markets to sell guns and fosters a culture of violence is not welcome in New York.” …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While these guys are certainly antigun, that is not the real issue here. \u00a0Walmart has been wanting to open up stores in NYC<\/a> for quite some time. \u00a0Their main obstacle has been the unions and their political puppets like de Blasio and Stringer. \u00a0Walmart is a non-union shop and local unions do not want them here:<\/p>\n

“… “Walmart is still not welcome,” said Stuart Appelbaum, of the national Retail and Wholesale Workers union<\/a>. \u00a0 “They provide a model for others to follow. \u00a0Their model is a destructive force. \u00a0The jobs they create keep people in poverty.” …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Their business model is capitalism, the antithesis of union socialism.<\/p>\n

While Mayor Bloomberg is very antigun, he’s not anticapitalist and does not have a problem with Walmart<\/a> expanding into the City. \u00a0What de Blasio and Stringer are trying to do here is get the Mayor on their side by trying to link one of his pet issues to Walmart and hopefully get him to come out in opposition to the company’s expansion plans. \u00a0Gun control is just a smokescreen for their real objectives.<\/p>\n