By John DeSio

Since the start of his second term, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has seen fit to define himself on one particular issue: gun violence in his city.

Bloomberg’s gun battle just oozes with bipartisan spirit. He has built a coalition of mayors from across the nation, from all ideological stripes, to help him fight back against gun violence in his own city as well as theirs. The overwhelmingly Democratic City Council has signed on to his legislation, which would limit the number of handguns a city resident may purchase and create stricter laws for dealers to follow, among other things.

“The fight against illegal guns isn’t waged only on the streets,” said Bloomberg in early June when announcing the introduction of the laws. “Creating local laws that make enforcement easier and prevention more effective is critical in the fight to keep illegal guns off our streets and out of the hands of criminals.” Bloomberg has taken such a commanding lead on a nationwide issue, that he’s now being considered a potential presidential candidate in 2008. 

Bloomberg’s stock is clearly soaring. But among whom? When his potential presidential aspirations are mentioned, he’s always considered part of an independent run. Bloomberg could likely not win a nationwide primary election in his adopted party, especially not when taking on sacred cows of the right such as gun laws.

What happens to a politician who crosses the National Rifle Association, a huge organizing force in Washington, D.C., and a major source of votes within the Republican’s conservative base? In 2004, the NRA released an advertisement mocking Democratic presidential nominee Senator John Kerry. Though the Massachusetts senator claimed to be a strong supporter of hunters and the rights of other gun owners, the NRA went out of its way to comb through Kerry’s legislative history, finding piece after piece of what they saw as questionable legislation that Kerry had voted to support.

Kerry did poorly among sportsmen of both parties, who value their guns as much as their families. And while fighting illegal guns is not something anyone could find fault with, some Republican critics feel now that Bloomberg has stepped across the line in his actions against legal gun dealers.

In May, Bloomberg announced that the city would file suit against 15 gun dealers across five states heavily populated by gun owners: Ohio, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. Bloomberg hired his own team of private investigators to run a sting on those dealers, and then used that evidence to file the lawsuit, complaining that those dealers are selling weapons in violation of federal law.

“Today, we are sending a clear message to rogue gun dealers across the nation: straighten up and follow the law—or face the consequences,” said Bloomberg when he announced the lawsuit. But that wasn’t necessarily the message that was heard.

Former congressman Bob Barr, himself an NRA board member, blasted Bloomberg in an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the lawsuit was announced, describing the Mayor as a meddler who was smearing honorable southern gun owners and dealers with a redneck brush.

“Hizzoner’s actions are based on the oft-cited, though never proved theory that virtually all guns used by criminals in the northeastern United States originate in other states, mostly in the South,” wrote Barr. “As seen through the jaded lenses of big-city mayors in New York, Connecticut and elsewhere, the South is populated by hayseed gun dealers who hand out firearms with abandon...”

Ashley Varner, a spokesperson for the NRA, agreed, saying that Bloomberg could have better spent the city’s money increasing police patrols to fight actual crime than having conferences with the mayors of other cities.

“Mayor Bloomberg’s whole campaign is more of a publicity stunt than actually focusing on locking up gun criminals,” said Varner. She added that Bloomberg should stop trying to take the guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens and learn from other states where guns are easier to get for law-abiding citizens. In those states, said Varner, crime is lower than here in New York.

“If criminals don’t know who has a gun, or who has a gun in their home, they have to think twice,” said Varner.

Bloomberg has been undeterred by any outside criticism. If a 2008 presidential run is in the works, Bloomberg probably shouldn’t hold his breath for that NRA endorsement.