Firearms & Freedom » Mayor Mike

More on Lauer and Bloomberg

Peter — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:29:39 +0000

Seen at GunPundit, the Steve Lauer and Michael Bloomberg bobble heads. Steve told me about these when I was up there. He said they called Bloomberg a few times, asking what gun he should be holding, and in what color. The Mayor did not respond. Go figure.

Just one more reason I love those guys.

Lauer and Bloomberg

Peter — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:13:13 +0000

Lauer started with DuraCoat, which Mayor Bloomberg decided was a risk to police, because criminals could color their guns to look like toys. This turned out to be better advertising than Lauer could hope for, and sales spiked. Bloomberg also opened the door for them, so “The Bloomberg Collection was introduced. In talking to the people there, they said that there is a direct positive effect on sales every time Bloomberg opens his mouth.

The “New York” gun has a lot of features that are not visible in the magazine shots:

Yes, that is Mayor Bloomberg’s phone number.

You can also stencil Mayor Mike’s smiling face on your Bloomberg Collection gun.

Or you could have it engraved. Note the spray can selector markings.

There are also plans for Steve & Mike bobbleheads. Steve’s daughter Amy has contacted Bloomberg’s office several times to find out what gun he should be holding, and in what color. They have yet to hear back.

LOL

Peter — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:13:59 +0000

Lauer Custom Weaponry is selling an “I Mayor Bloomberg” button. Now, this may seem a little crazy coming from a weapons maker, but the story goes something like this:

LCW develops DuraCoat, and makes it available in a wide array of colors, from camo, to parkerized looking, to electric colors.
Bloomberg, being the nanny state ninny that he is, bans DuraCoat in New York City, under the guise of preventing thugs from coloring their guns to fool the police, apparently forgetting that spray paint also works if the main desire is to fool the police, not to mention spray paint being considerably cheaper and easier.
LCW rides the publicity to significantly higher sales, laughing all the way to the bank.
Lauer further decides to introduce “The Bloomberg Collection” in 5 electric colors, and a “brick and mortar” kit, to mock Mayor Bloomberg.

So, Lauer has a understandable soft spot in their hearts for Mayor Bloomberg as one of the chief promoters of their flagship product. I am probably going to be in Lauer’s neck of the woods next month, I may need to pick one of the buttons up, as well as look at some of their other toys.

My Response to Wal-Mart

Peter — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:37:08 +0000

I finally got to responding to the letter I got from Wal-Mart

Considering your response, and after some further research, it appears that the largest problem with the agreement reached between Wal-Mart and “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” (MAIG) is item 2:

“Computerized Crime Gun Trace Log and Alert System. Participating retailers will maintain a computerized log of crime gun traces relating to the retailer. Once the program is in place, if a customer who has a prior trace at that retailer attempts to purchase a firearm, the sale will be electronically flagged. The retailer would have discretion to proceed with the sale or stop the sale.”

The trace information referenced in the preceding paragraph, taken from the MAIG website, is not available to anyone outside of law enforcement, and then only as it relates to an active criminal investigation. This is a result of the Tiahrt Amendment, which was supported by BATFE, the Fraternal Order of Police, to protect law enforcement officers, active investigations, and also to reduce the possibility of lawsuits against firearms dealers. Attempts have been made to sue or otherwise punish retailers who had a firearm traced to their establishment, or what some official thought were too many firearms traced to a single retailer, even if no wrongdoing was proven on the part of the retailer. As one of the largest firearms dealers in America, I would imagine that this protection would be of great importance to your company.

I can only assume that since the data is not available from BATFE, you are going to have to maintain your own database of trace requests that come into your stores, and in light of the following line from your reply to my earlier letter “We are hopeful these enhanced processes with help from law enforcement and other retailers committing to do the same” I would have to assume that the information that you collect will be shared with other retailers, possibly being brokered by MAIG. If this is not the case, I would appreciate further information on how this part of the agreement will be implemented.

Helping Mayor Bloomberg evade the law in this manner will not only have the potential to threaten the integrity of investigations and endanger law enforcement, but will open your company and others up to the litigation that Tiahrt was enacted to protect you from. As you may be aware, Mayor Bloomberg has gone out of his way to harass firearms dealers, to the point of sending private investigators into other states to make straw purchases, then suing the retailer. Court investigations have not shown any wrongdoing on the part of the retailers.

Also, as I stated in my earlier letter, many firearms owners consider this an invasion of our privacy.

I must also respectfully reiterate that I will be taking my firearms and related business elsewhere if Wal-Mart continues with this program as planned. I would urge you to end your involvement with Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Respectfully,

Peter

I decided to take on the most dangerous part of the agreement, and add some reasons why it was bad for them, as like most companies, they like to look out for the old bottom line, and Bloomberg using data they provided to sue them wouldn’t help that cause. I will let you know if I get any further response back.

Wal-Mart’s response

Peter — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:51:03 +0000

Here is the response I got to the letter I sent to Wal-Mart

Dear Peter,

Wal-Mart understands its role as a leading, responsible retailer in the U.S. and is making strides to strengthen its already existing security processes to help combat illegal gun activity in the communities we serve. Wal-Mart has a long and proud history of offering the products hunters and outdoorsmen want and need and that will not change.

It is important to note that these procedures should not impede law-abiding citizens from purchasing firearms at our stores that sell them. These processes merely provide us, as a retailer, an additional mechanism to assist law enforcement when illegal activity occurs.

We are hopeful these enhanced processes with help from law enforcement and other retailers committing to do the same can make a positive difference in our communities.

Thank you,
Wal-Mart Customer Relations

At least I got past the generic response, which is all Sebastian got so far. Let’s hope that Wally World is getting enough feedback on this that they are trying to do some damage control. We need to keep the pressure on them, and maybe they will abandon this deal.

Armed Canadian has more details on the actual agreement. I am not sure this is what is going on, but one way they could sidestep the Tiahrt amendment would be to keep their own records of trace requests from BATFE. The implication is also that they would be sharing that data with MAIG. This would obviously be a huge overstepping of their authority, and a huge invasion of privacy. Again, I don’t know that this is the plan, but seems like the only way what they are proposing to do would work.

Letter to Wal-Mart

Peter — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:44:52 +0000

If you haven’t heard, Wal-Mart has entered into an agreement with Mayor Bloomberg’s “Mayors against all Illegal Guns.” As you can imagine, this agreement is going to cause more problems for gun owners than criminals. Borrowing a little from Sebastian’s letter, I wrote the following:

To whom it may concern,

It was with great regret that I read that Wal-Mart has reached an agreement with New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s coalition of “Mayors Against Illegal Guns”. This organization and Mayor Bloomberg have a history of supporting and trying to force measures odious to law abiding gun owners, while ignoring measures that would have a real impact on crime and gun trafficking.

The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) already has systems in place to reduce illegal and straw purchases, while working to ensure a reasonable right of privacy for law abiding gun owners. Upon reviewing the deal reached with Bloomberg, these measures would do more to restrict our rights than to prevent illegal purchase and use of firearms, and would be an unnecessary invasion of our privacy.

Because this deal is an affront to myself and gun owners everywhere, I will be taking all my purchases for firearms and ammunition elsewhere. While Wal-Mart may have some of the best prices for shooting supplies, I am not willing to support a company that does not support my second amendment rights. I sincerely hope you will reconsider this action, so that I can continue to do business with your company.

Sincerely,

Peter
Milwaukee, WI

Please contact Wal-Mart, and let them know how you feel about this. Maybe if they hear from enough people willing to pay more somewhere else, they will reconsider this bad policy.

Hat tip NRAhab, Michelle Malkin

Update: Wal-Mart’s response to my letter.

Paul Helmke on Evil Colored Guns

Peter — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:50:31 +0000

Paul Helmke & The Brady Campaign weighed in on the colored guns debate. I have to agree with Sebastian on two of the main points in his post. I don’t like people telling me what I can and cannot do with my property, and may well have to find an excuse to paint a gun in neon colors, just because the nanny state doesn’t want us to. Also, Steve Lauer is laughing all the way to the bank on this. You can find an interview with Steve on Cam & Company in the NRANews archives (look under 2007 annual meeting, Steve Lauer), in which he says that Mayor Bloomberg’s ban “put them on the map”.

As to the DuraCoat line, while there are a number of “electric” colors, there are many other colors, including camo, colors that match many “traditional” colors that could be used for many customizations and historic replicas, none of which have anything to do with making a gun look like a toy. If you wanted to make a gun look like a toy, there are many options available to a criminal that are much easier and cheaper. At a minimum, to do a proper job DuraCoating a gun in one of the electric line, you need about $25 of the DuraCoat product, and an air brush and the accompanying equipment. A better job requires bead blasting and parkerizing (Second Snowflakes in Hell reference, DuraCoat Process). A can of Krylon costs about $5. Orange electrical tape to wrap around the muzzle costs about $.95. Furthermore, what about the people that use a magic marker to make a toy gun look real? Time to ban Sharpies!

Is there a legitimate use for electric colors other than offending the easily offended? I have seen rifles make for adults with purple furniture. In training scenarios that include real firearms, there are times that the added visibility is a benefit. People, including law enforcement, working in an environment where they could become separated from their weapon, could also benefit from the visibility. Many competitive shooters (men and women), including the US Shooting Team that competes internationally including the Olympics, like to paint their guns all sorts of colors.

As to police, as I have said in the past, a suspect that is appears to be threatening an officer with a weapon should be engaged accordingly. A person who gets shot because they point an AirSoft gun, squirt gun, or painted real gun at an officer is completely at fault for whatever happens to them at that point.

In the end, this is about attacking the gun industry. We have seen attacks on guns that are too black, now that are too colorful. All this is aimed at an end-state of eliminating guns. Throwing this very useful product under the bus is counterproductive to the firearms community as a whole.

The Bloomberg Collection

Peter — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:49:49 +0000

Kim du Toit already weighed in on this one, but I felt compelled to chime in, being about fellow Wisconsin resident Steve Lauer and Lauer Custom Weaponry. Steve was interviewed on NRANews, and said that Bloomberg’s ban was the greatest advertising he could hope to get.

link

A Wisconsin company that disguises deadly firearms with bright paints and camouflage has a new target: Mayor Bloomberg.
Lauer Custom Weaponry, whose products were banned in the city in 2006 because they make dangerous guns look like innocent toys, is taunting the anti-gun mayor with a line of paints named “The Bloomberg Collection.”
The company – which named its purple hue after Barney, the dinosaur beloved by toddlers – is peddling a rainbow of candy-colored paints for each of the five boroughs.
There’s red for Manhattan, rose for the Bronx, blue for Brooklyn, green for Queens and orange for Staten Island.
And as an extra slap – a stencil of the mayor’s face for the barrel of the gun.
Gun owners also can plunk down $129 for a “Bloomberg Collection EZ Camo Kit” to pimp out their semiautomatics and rifles with a brick wall and graffiti decoration.
It’s no joke.
An outraged Bloomberg called gun-coloration kits “a tragedy in the making.”
“Making a quick buck by coloring a handgun to look like a toy is craven and beneath any honest businessman,” Bloomberg told the Daily News. “By coloring these guns, a real one looks like a toy, and a police officer won’t be able to tell the difference.”
“Imagine an officer who comes upon a teenager pointing a pink gun into a crowd. If the gun is a toy, an innocent teenager may be killed – and others, too.”
Our police officers have a hard enough job as it is, and that’s why we passed a law to prevent these deadly tragedies from occurring.”
It’s just the latest time Bloomberg has come under fire from the weapons industry for his efforts to shut down New York’s illegal gun trade.
Last year, a Virginia gun shop held a “Bloomberg raffle” – with the prize a brand-new gun – to protest the mayor’s crackdown on stores he says are illegally peddling firearms that end up on New York streets.
Not to be left out, the National Rifle Association soon plastered a picture of Bloomberg as an octopus on the cover of its magazine.
This time, Bloomberg angered Steve Lauer, owner of Lauer Custom Weaponry, when he pushed through a law that punishes anyone who uses, buys or sells a gun-coloration kit in New York with a year in jail or a $1,000 fine.
“The mayor picked us out as being the pink-gun guys,” said Toby Johnson, who described himself as Lauer’s “right-hand man” at the Chippewa Falls company.
The bright paints were meant to help rescue workers and range masters locate guns more easily – not fool cops, Johnson said. They regularly sell the colors named after the boroughs and have even sold “five or six” Bloomberg camo kits, Johnson said.
Women also are big fans of the colors, he added.
“The ladies like it. They fashion their guns after their clothing,” Johnson said.
But at least one woman was angered by the “shameful ploy” and “disgraceful marketing.”
“In the hands of a child, a real gun made to look like a toy has deadly consequences,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan).

The line that gets me is: “Imagine an officer who comes upon a teenager pointing a pink gun into a crowd If the gun is a toy, an innocent teenager may be killed – and others, too.” Pretty simple to me, a teenager pointing a potential weapon at a crown is not innocent. An officer should assume a weapon is real, and engage accordingly. Typical gun banners, blame the object, not the people.

And what about magic markers? You could make a FAKE gun look REAL!!!

You know what the next step after banning bright guns is: Ban dark guns! They are too easy to hide!

Kudos to Steve and the rest of LCW, it is great to see someone take on this foolishness.