By Dave Workman
Anti-Second Amendment NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg moved fast to exploit the Colorado tragedy. Bloomberg is the head of the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
Senior Editor
Alleged “Batman massacre” gunman James Egan Holmes legally purchased the four firearms that police in Aurora, CO found in his possession when they arrested him behind the theater where 71 people were shot, a dozen of them fatally.
As the investigation unfolded, anti-gunners have been quick to exploit the tragedy, with anti-gun New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Boston Globe in the forefront, along with other gun prohibitionist including Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy.
Holmes was reportedly armed with a 12-gauge Remington Model 870 pump shotgun, an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and two .40-caliber Glock handguns. All of these firearms are legal to own under existing law, and there is no indication that the suspect has any disqualifying criminal background that would have prevented him from purchasing any or all of them at retail.
Bass Pro Shops, where ie purchased the shotgun and one of the pistols, released a statement that Holmes did everything legally, filled out all the paperwork and passed the background check.
“You know, soothing words are nice,” Bloomberg said on WOR radio, “but maybe it’s time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country.”
Meanwhile, the Boston Globe editorialized: “But if political leaders can’t enact common-sense gun limits, they have an obligation to come up with an alternative strategy to prevent such horrifying acts. An answer may lie in more monitoring of ammunition and military equipment purchases, more aggressive mental health intervention, or more sophisticated policing methods. The portrait of the suspect in Friday’s shooting, James Holmes, 24, is still coming into focus. But he was apparently able to acquire a weapon, ammunition, a smoke device, a bulletproof vest, and a gas mask. Law enforcement needs a way to detect these clues, recognize that they add up to a warning sign, and act on them early. The tools authorities have now failed in Connecticut in 2010, when a disgruntled worker opened fire at a beer warehouse, killing nine; failed in Arizona last year, when a deranged man wounded a congresswoman and killed six others; and failed again in Colorado on Friday.”
One fact that surfaced was that the theater chain that owns the theater where the shooting occurred prohibits firearms, even those legally carried by licensed private citizens.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates told a press conference that one round penetrated the wall of theater No. 9 where the shooting occurred, and hit a patron in an adjacent theater. Ten people were killed inside the theater and two died at the hospital.
The investigation was still in its early stages Friday and TGM will update reports as new facts are available.
