Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell’s protest of a series of gun shop stings orchestrated in the commonwealth by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg “was based on turf” and an attempt to protect the gun industry, a top New York official said Thursday.
John Feinblatt, Bloomberg’s criminal justice coordinator, also charged that McDonnell had failed to enforce existing gun laws.
The comments added fuel to an ongoing feud between commonwealth and New York City leaders over the legality of Bloomberg’s campaign to target out-of-state gun dealers whose wares show up disproportionately in New York City crimes.
Bloomberg has pursued federal lawsuits against 27 dealers in East Coast states — including seven dealers in Virginia — after undercover investigators were allegedly able to illegally purchase guns from the stores.
“It’s unfortunate that the mayor’s staff continues its politically motivated attack on Virginia and does so by using erroneous information,” McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin wrote in an e-mail Thursday. “Mayor Bloomberg needs to stop preparing to run for president by unfairly running down the good people of Virginia.”
New stings would be illegal under a law recently enacted by the Virginia General Assembly, McDonnell has told Bloomberg.
Feinblatt’s criticism came on the same day as the Virginia Citizens Defense League planned the “Bloomberg Gun Giveaway” to benefit two of the gun dealers: Bob Moates Sport Shop in Richmond and Old Dominion Gun and Tackle in Danville. The event, modified to comply with state gambling laws after county officials raised concerns over its legality, went forward Thursday night at Fairfax County’s Mason District Government Center in Annandale.
