Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Anti-gun Buttinskis Seek to Politicize NYPD's Firearm Procurements

Friday, January 24, 2014

Since reporting on Jersey City, N.J., Mayor Steven Fulop's adoption of a gun control questionnaire for firearms vendors in December, the campaign to leverage municipal firearms contracts to enact civilian firearms restrictions has continued.  Now, the New York City Police Department is in the gun control activists' crosshairs. If successful, the campaign would subject manufacturers bidding to supply the nation's largest police force to eligibility criteria measuring the gun makers' participation in advancing several items of the anti-gun agenda, including "smart gun" technology, microstamping, and the restriction of private firearm transfers.  Opposed even by former New York mayor and current anti-gun sugar daddy Michael Bloomberg, the standards would only serve to disadvantage law enforcement officers by subjecting their critical equipment to political, rather than functional, litmus tests.

The New York City effort is being led by Rabbi Joel Mosbacher and the Metro Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF).  Rabbi Mosbacher has stated that his intent is to use municipal contracting to create an "emerging market" for "smarter, safer guns and better distribution practices by gun manufacturers."  The increasing push to politicize the NYPD procurement process follows a December trip by Mosbacher and several allies to Europe, in which the gun control advocates attempted (with evident futility) to pressure several European firearms manufacturers into supporting new firearm restrictions in the United States.  A veteran gun control advocate, Mosbacher participated in the anti-gun "Million Mom March" campaign in 2000.

Unfortunately for New York's Finest, Mosbacher has a more receptive audience in the recently-sworn-in New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio than with Bloomberg.  According to the Jewish Daily Forward, during the New York mayoral campaign, gun control advocates secured assurances from de Blasio that he would use city firearm contracts to further an anti-gun agenda.  This promise is reminiscent of then-"Public Advocate" de Blasio's own 2011 attempt to get the city to boycott a gun manufacturer.

The full questionnaire that Mosbacher and his colleagues intend to burden the NYPD with has yet to become available, but it would likely be similar to the one implemented by Jersey City, as Mosbacher and Metro IAF have claimed some credit for Fulop adopting it.  Additionally, in an opinion piece for the New York Daily News, Mosbacher shares several topics he'd like the New York questionnaire to cover.

One potential question asks, "Does the manufacturer insist that dealers train their employees to spot 'straw buyers' --people buying guns for end users who are circumventing background checks?"  Here the Rabbi appears ignorant of joint efforts by the gun industry and federal law enforcement already underway to halt straw purchases.  In 2000, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and BATFE launched the "Don't Lie for the Other Guy" campaign, complete with print and broadcast public service announcements, and a "Retailer Tool Kit" aimed at helping gun dealers and their employees identify and deter illegal sales.

Other proposed questions ask about the manufacturers' participation in developing gun control technologies, such as, "Does the manufacturer cooperate fully with law enforcement--for example, by developing advanced ballistics technologies like bullet microstamping?" and "Is the manufacturer moving at breakneck speed to bring safer guns to market, like those with biometric recognition or other systems that prevent non-authorized users from pulling the trigger?"  For these questions, firearm manufacturers could be penalized for not pursuing expensive, ineffective, and unreliable technologies that the civilian and law enforcement market do not want.

Tests have proven that microstamping technology can be defeated with simple tools or replacement parts (not to mention simply by high volume firing of the gun).  Moreover, firearm manufacturer Smith & Wesson recently announced that it is exiting the California semi-automatic handgun market due in part to the state's onerous microstamping requirements.  For the company to forego selling its semi-automatic handguns in the most populous state suggests that the costs of implementing such technology are far more prohibitive than the overly optimistic predictions of microstamping advocates and more in line with industry estimates, which have calculated an additional cost of $200 per firearm.  Even notoriously anti-gun Washington, D.C., recently enacted "emergency" legislation to delay (yet again) implementation of its unworkable microstamping mandate. 

As for "smart gun" technology, a 2013 poll undertaken by McKeon & Associates and commissioned by NSSF found that 74 percent of those polled thought that firearms incorporating biometric or radio frequency identification technology would not be reliable.  Additionally, 74 percent of those polled noted that they would not be very likely to, or would not buy, a "smart gun."  Further evidence of the problems posed by these unproven technologies is that in states where laws have been passed mandating their use, such as California and New Jersey, law enforcement groups, not willing to put their own lives in the hands of such components, have successfully lobbied to be exempt from such requirements. 

While evaluating firearm manufacturers on irrelevant criteria is unwise for any local government concerned with the safety of police and public alike, complicating matters further is that NYPD officers are authorized to choose their duty sidearm from a list of three models provided by three different manufacturers.  This arrangement wisely allows for the police force's 34,500 officers to choose the firearm with which they are most competent and comfortable.  In New York's case, adding gun control politics to this process would not only open the possibility of limiting the entire NYPD's access to the best equipment, but could adversely affect safety by restricting an individual officer's choice in carrying the firearm with which they are most proficient.

As we noted in a previous alert, decades of attempts to use government firearm contracts to pursue civilian firearms restrictions have been met with scorn by the law enforcement community.  While we doubt Mosbacher and de Blasio are interested in NRA's opinion on the matter, the pair should at least take this vocal law enforcement opposition as evidence as to the importance of equipping officers with the best tools for their job, independent of gun control politics, and abandon any attempts score cheap political points at the potential cost of officer and public safety.

TRENDING NOW
Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

Pure gun control. As in disarmament and banning of firearms. It’s rare that anti-gunners get straight to the exact point that we have been warning of for decades. 

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) may have thought he had scored against President Donald Trump in a recent war of words over rampant crime and the deployment of federal law enforcement agents to Democratic-led cities

Florida: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Signed by Governor

Monday, July 7, 2025

Florida: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Signed by Governor

Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed the Florida Budget for Fiscal Year 2025–2026, which includes a Second Amendment sales tax holiday from September 8 through December 31, 2025. The NRA is thankful for Governor DeSantis’ strong ...

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Earlier this month, Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 8 into law. This legislation imposes new mandatory firearm storage requirements on law-abiding gun owners.  

Report: Senior ATF Official Joins (Private) Firearm Prohibition Lobby

News  

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Report: Senior ATF Official Joins (Private) Firearm Prohibition Lobby

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the federal agency whose jurisdiction encompasses federal firearms laws. 

Arkansas Atrocity Highlights Need for Reform in Rules Governing Carry in Public Parks

News  

Monday, August 25, 2025

Arkansas Atrocity Highlights Need for Reform in Rules Governing Carry in Public Parks

On the heels of the shocking and seemingly random murder of a couple in an Arkansas state park while they were walking a trail with their young children, many are revisiting their self-defense plans in the great ...

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

Close observers of the gun debate often see references to due process.

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Today, the House rescheduled the veto override vote on Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to Monday, September 22. 

ABAs Latest Resolution Continues to Ignore Liberty and Hinder Justice for Gun Owners

News  

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

ABAs Latest Resolution Continues to Ignore Liberty and Hinder Justice for Gun Owners

Last month, the American Bar Association (ABA), via its Standing Committee on Gun Violence, passed yet another anti-gun resolution at their annual meeting in Toronto (the venue should serve as a clue regarding their commitment ...

Third Circuit Sua Sponte Takes NRA’s “Assault Firearm” and Magazine Ban Case En Banc

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Third Circuit Sua Sponte Takes NRA’s “Assault Firearm” and Magazine Ban Case En Banc

Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs v. Attorney Gen. New Jersey is an NRA-supported challenge to New Jersey’s prohibitions on so-called “assault firearms” and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.