NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday said undercover investigators working for the city were illegally allowed to buy semi-automatic pistols at an Arizona gun show.
Mr. Bloomberg said that the sale not long after the mass shooting in Tucson exposed a “dangerous gap” in federal gun laws.
Investigators, Mr. Bloomberg said, told two sellers they probably could not pass a background check for two semi-automatic pistols. That revelation should have prevented the sale, the mayor said.
The investigators visited Phoenix on Jan. 23. That date was a couple of weeks after the rampage in Tucson killed six people and wounded 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Mr. Bloomberg has made gun control advocacy a hallmark of his tenure. He argues that too many illegal guns end up on city streets.
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