Lies from the Other Side

[GGReporter]

Did you see that full-page ad that Mayor Mike Bloomberg bought in USA Today on June 6?

In it, he and the other mayors in his anti-gun coalition urge national politicians to not renew the Tiahrt Amendment, saying Congress is "undermining police work by quietly refusing to allow police and prosecutors access to crucial crime-fighting information."

That's a lie, and Mike Bloomberg knows it.

The text of the Tiahrt Amendment states in part that "no funds appropriated under this or any other Act ... may be used to disclose part or all of the contents of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives … to anyone other than a Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency or a prosecutor solely in connection with and for use in a bona fide criminal investigation or prosecution ..."

In other words, not only does law enforcement have access to the ATF trace data that Bloomberg says is off limits, they're the only ones with access.

The ad in USA Today featured a picture of several law enforcement officers carrying the flag-draped coffin of one of their fallen comrades. Bloomberg wants Americans to think that the Tiahrt Amendment is leading to the deaths of officers, but the rank-and-file know that it's actually protecting them. Chuck Canterbury, head of the National Fraternal Order of Police, recently said, "The release of such data to non-law enforcement entities-namely civil litigants-could compromise the safety of law enforcement officers and the integrity of law enforcement investigations."

Mike Bloomberg should be ashamed of himself for lying to the American people on this issue. The other mayors in his coalition should be ashamed their names are attached to this lie as well. And gun owners everywhere need to get out the word: The Tiahrt Amendment protects cops, plain and simple.

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