Bloggers are taking New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to task, accusing him of hypocrisy for pushing strict gun control onto Americans but simultaneously seeking gun-carry exemptions for his security detail when he travels to Bermuda, where firearms are largely prohibited.
The New York Times first reported of this disparity in 2010, stating that the mayor uses taxpayer dollars to pay for two armed city officers to accompany him on get-away jaunts to Bermuda. But before he can fly them in, he has to obtain special permission so they can keep their guns: Bermuda is so anti-gun that even its own police force isn’t armed, The Times reported then.
As Mr. Bloomberg ratchets up his Second Amendment clampdown, and spends millions of his own dollars to push for stronger gun controls through Capitol Hill, the online community is reigniting this story.
Bloggers are questioning why Mr. Bloomberg on one hand pushes for tight gun control, but on the other, finds the need for gun control exemptions for his personal protection.
“Guns are largely forbidden in Bermuda,” writes Walter Olson, of Cato, quoting a New York Times article. “But Mayor Bloomberg of New York, one of the nation’s most famously anti-gun politicos, has a dispensation for armed bodyguards from his own NYPD.”
One blogger writes in answer to that: “Gun laws are just for the ’little people.’ Those who command millions of dollars and political capital don’t have to obey gun laws since they can hide behind their ’need for security’ because of said wealth and political connections.”
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And another writes on the blog Weazel Zippers: Mr. Bloomberg is guilty of “hypocrisy.” The story highlights “another [case of] ’some animals are more equal than others.’ “
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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