Democratic Mayors Take on Gun Manufacturers

Democratic Mayors Take on Gun Manufacturers

The National Conference of Democratic Mayors are now threatening to have their police departments boycott the purchase of guns from manufacturers who won’t adhere to the Obama Administration’s strictures.

The mayors are going to grade the manufacturers on their record of support vis-à-vis Obama’s plans for gun control, including universal background checks, the elimination of high-capacity magazines and sharing information on crime and mental health.
The leader of this crusade is Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who stated:

When we were lobbying on Capitol Hill, it became clear that our goal of trying to pass laws that make it easier to make our communities safe was going to be opposed by the gun and ammunition manufacturers. We recognize as mayors, we help fund that, because we are one of the largest purchasers of guns and ammunition in the country. So at the Democratic mayors meeting last night, we agreed that we would all go back to our communities, gather information from our police chiefs and procurement officers about how many guns and how much ammunition we purchase, bring that in from the Democratic mayors so that we have a common list of how much money we’re spending, what purchases are pending and who we’re buying from.

Rybak added that the group will join Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns to grade the manufacturers.
Rybak concluded:

Then we’re going to do everything we can as mayors to use … the collective buying power of many millions of dollars in guns and ammunition, to support those who will support common-sense laws and oppose those who are fighting us in Congress. I am not going to have the people, the taxpayers of Minneapolis, pay for people to stop the Congress from passing laws that keep our people safe. It’s especially galling, paying money from our police departments to produce loopholes that allow illegal handguns into my communities that could be used against police officers.