New York mayor under fire over guns

NEW YORK - His predecessor, Rudy Giuliani, drew the mockery of many by referring to himself as "America's Mayor". And now Michael Bloomberg, New York's present leader, has made his own controversial move on to the national stage - by sending undercover operatives to investigate illegal gun sales on the other side of the country.

Bloomberg's move, which follows the recent shootings in Tucson, Arizona, was designed to rekindle the national debate over United States gun laws - and revealed disturbing lapses in procedure at a gun show.

As the mayor has shown off the results of his operation, some Arizonans have been furious about such an aggressive intervention in another state's politics. The greatest anger came from the organisers of the gun show.

"Mayor Bloomberg and his 'task force' have no legal authority in the state of Arizona, or in any other place in America except New York City," Bob Templeton, the president of Crossroads of the West, said. "These forays into America's heartland committing blatant acts to entrap otherwise innocent gun owners is an unlawful scheme."

At a press conference in New York, Bloomberg played a secret recording of one of the detectives buying a gun while acknowledging he would never pass the checks that would be required were he in a regular gun shop. While such checks do not apply to private gun shows, knowingly selling a gun to anyone you know would fail them is illegal.

Another video showed an undercover investigator buying a 9mm handgun and a magazine of the type used in the Tucson killings that wounded congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others.

"Because of the lack of background checks, gun shows have really become magnets for criminals," the mayor said. "If you have a criminal record, a history of drug abuse or even if your name appears on a terrorist watch list, you can still walk into a gun show and buy a 9mm in the time it would take to buy a hamburger and fries at McDonald's."

Bloomberg leads a national coalition of city mayors committed to stronger federal gun controls. His activism stands in contrast to Washington's silence on the issue. President Barack Obama did not mention gun control in his State of the Union address.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said this week the gun laws in Arizona were "something that the legislature and I decide".

"We're strong people in Arizona. We believe in the Constitution, and we certainly support the Second Amendment."

Bloomberg has long contended while his own police force might make headway in reducing gun violence on the streets of New York, it is constantly hampered by the flow of illegal weapons from elsewhere in the country.

- INDEPENDENT