Gun ownership in the U.S. remains a divisive issue following the Sandy Hook massacre of December 2012, which left 28 dead in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. Despite little coverage on the news, the violence continues — 32 people are murdered in acts of gun violence across the U.S. everyday, and 12,000 die in an average year.
Meanwhile, even as more than 90 percent of Americans — and 75 percent of the National Rifle Association’s membership — favor basic reforms like universal background checks, Congress has failed to pass legislation to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and individuals with a history of mental illness.
Threats against Bloomberg
The debate took a disturbing turn on Wednesday when New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a major proponent of gun control, received a letter laced with ricin, a toxic chemical that can be fatal if inhaled or ingested.
A separate ricin-filled letter was sent to the office of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an advocacy group co-founded by Bloomberg. Both letters were intercepted before the mayor or any staff could read them. Nobody was injured in the event, which is still under investigation, but the New York Times reports that the letters read, “You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. What’s in this letter is nothing compared to what I’ve got planned for you.”
No arrests have been made, but authorities say that a man in eastern Texas is currently being questioned in connection with the case.
Thursday’s toxic letter scare is the culmination of months of vitriolic comments against the mayor and others who have stepped up their advocacy for gun control measures in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting.
“[Bloomberg] wants to control every aspect of your life,” conservative commentator Glenn Beck declared, unfurling a banner of Bloomberg rendered in the image of Russian revolutionary V.I. Lenin at a recent NRA meeting.
The NRA did not respond to Mint Press News’ request for comment.
“For us it’s a very disturbing thing. We are glad no one was hurt but I can’t say that we’re surprised,” said Ladd Everitt, director of communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, in an interview with Mint Press News. “The modern pro-gun movement is predicated on the idea that the use of violence in our political process is legitimate. It’s their belief that they have an individual right under the Second Amendment to use force to affect elected officials and police, especially when they believe our government becomes tyrannical. That can take the form of gun violence, building bombs, in this case it was ricin. This is not something that surprised us in the least.”
Proponents of gun ownership claim that Bloomberg’s advocacy represents an overreach of his powers as mayor.
“Ninety-seven percent of Americans don’t live in New York City, don’t want to live in N.Y.C. and certainly don’t want a New York City mayor telling them how to live their lives,” said Erich Pratt, director of communications for Gun Owners of America, an advocacy group in Virginia. “There is a resentment level to that.”
Despite threats to his life in recent days, Bloomberg — who has served as mayor of New York since 2002 — says that he feels “perfectly safe.” He vows to continue his advocacy.
“The letter obviously referred to our anti-gun efforts. But there’s 12,000 people (who) are going to get killed this year with guns and 19,000 that are going to commit suicide with guns, and we’re not going to walk away from these efforts,” said Bloomberg.
The mayor also remains a strong proponent of a controversial policy known as “stop and frisk,” which allows New York City Police Department officers to stop and search any individual they suspect may be carrying drugs, weapons or other illegal items.
Since enacted as police policy in 2002, the NYPD has conducted 5 million searches — 84 percent of which have targeted young African-American and Latino residents. These statistics have drawn condemnation from civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union that claim the policy has become a discriminatory police practice.
NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly supports the mayor, arguing that the stop-and-frisk tactic has taken illegal weapons off the streets. Nearly nine out of 10 people stopped have been completely innocent. According to Columbia law professor Jeffrey Fagan, one gun was seized by police for every 1,000 people stopped from 2004 through June 2012.
Overall, violent crime has been dropping steadily in New York city since 1990. The city recorded 414 homicides in 2007, the lowest level since 1963. After seeing a drop in gun homicides, Bloomberg has encouraged other mayors to adopt similar policies while pushing for new reforms.
Mayors against illegal guns
According to the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition Bloomberg helped create in 2006, the group doesn’t seek to limit Second Amendment rights for law-abiding citizens, but rather to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and those with a history of mental illness.
“We support the Second Amendment and the rights of citizens to own guns. We recognize that the vast majority of gun dealers and gun owners carefully follow the law. And we know that a policy that is appropriate for a small town in one region of the country is not necessarily appropriate for a big city in another region of the country,” the group says.
Since forming in 2006, the bipartisan coalition has grown to include 850 mayors from 44 states, including the mayors of major cities like Phoenix, Oakland, Calif., and Chicago.
“The advocacy of Mayors Against Illegal Guns is very moderate. When you poll nationally, things like expanding background checks, it is supported by an overwhelming number of Americans. The pro-gun movement is extremely radical and it is moving farther to the right wing. I think the average gun owner would find much of this objectionable and flat-out wrong,” said Everitt.
There are millions of gun owners across the U.S. In all, they own between 270 million and 310 million guns — by far the highest of number of any country in the world.
Most gun owners support modest reforms
Many of the proposals put forth by Bloomberg and Mayors Against Illegal Guns are actually supported by a majority of Americans — including, in some cases, a majority of gun owners.
According to an opinion poll conducted by Quinnipiac in January, 91 percent of gun owners support universal background checks. The poll, based upon a survey of 1,772 registered voters, found that 56 percent of Americans support a ban on both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds.
“There is no significant voter opposition to requiring background checks for gun buyers,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
Despite strong support for these type of reforms, the U.S. Senate failed to pass legislation in April that would require universal background checks for all gun purchases, including guns purchased over the Internet and at gun shows.
Money talks?
Some in the pro-gun-control camp claim that pro-gun organizations like the NRA use campaign donations to sway the opinion of elected officials.
According to the Sunlight Foundation, a government watchdog group, 42 of the 45 senators who voted against the bill received funds from groups associated with the pro-gun lobby. Those senators have received a combined $800,000 in NRA donations since 1990, according to the foundation’s statistics.
The NRA has strayed from the positions of its own membership as gun manufacturers take on leadership positions within the organization.
“The NRA now has gun executives sitting on their board, like Ronnie Barrett, the developer of the 50-caliber sniper rifle. They are one in the same,” said Everitt. “Through their Ring of Freedom program, they are receiving millions in direct corporate donations from gun manufacturers each year. There is no doubt that it affects decision-making because gun manufacturers are also part of the NRA decision-making body.”