Setting Political Sights on Bloomberg’s Anti-Gun Mayors, Part IV

Why should we bother trying to reduce the number of mayors in Bloomberg’s group by way of the soapbox or ballot box? Is it just a distraction from other races and issues at the moment?

I would argue it’s important and not a distraction because it’s an off year activity with reduced participation so our potential impact may wield more influence in the direct results. It also has long-term political implications for the Commonwealth.

This coalition is one of Bloomberg’s favorite PR tools, so it would be nice to disable it. He claims that it’s not just a big city issue, that he has pulled more than 450 mayors from across the country to stand with him in his attacks on gun rights. If he has at least 450 mayors, that means 23% of them are from Pennsylvania!

Bloomberg has invested heavily in this state, and we should be concerned by that fact. What is he hoping to get from that investment? More importantly, what has he already received and what is on the immediate horizon?

Consider the attack on preemption we’re seeing across Pennsylvania. When cities and towns are passing legislation requiring you to report lost or stolen guns in a manner they arbitrarily consider reasonable, it makes gun owners potential victims to abusive prosecutors. Those nine cities are: Erie, Allentown, Reading, Pottsville, Pittsburgh, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Wilkinsburg. Guess how many of those cities have mayors in the coalition? Nine.

Not to mention, some of these mayors have their eye on higher offices (hopefully not Mayor Rape). Consider Mayor John Callahan of Bethlehem (population 71,329) who is challenging Congressman Charlie Dent for his seat. Should he be successful (reports indicate he will be a very strong challenger), that seat will go from an A rating to Bloomberg-controlled anti-gun overnight.

While we can’t stop Mayor Callahan until next November, we could see that other mayors find the New York-based coalition to be a political liability for future office and convince them to denounce his positions. If they continue to stand by Bloomberg, we can show up at the ballot box and try to put a stop to their political futures by ousting them from the office.

What I hope is that the citizens of Birdsboro convince Mayor Robert Myers to leave Bloomberg’s anti-gun agenda behind (or send him packing if he refuses) so that the 5,064 residents don’t have to fear a patchwork of local laws.

I don’t want the gun owners among the 2,812 residents of Wind Gap to stand confused should Mayor Mitchell Mogilski try to implement Bloomberg’s ideal gun controls in their town.

The shooting community within the 7,589 residents of Downingtown deserves better if Mayor Heather Ann Bruno refuses to step down from Bloomberg’s comments made in her name against concealed carry holders.