Mayor Bloomberg's undercover gun stings get results - and gripes in Tucson
More than three dozen gun shows have cleaned up their act after Mayor Bloomberg staged undercover sting operations exposing illegal sales.
Private detectives hired by the city in 2009 were able to buy guns at seven shows despite telling the sellers they probably couldn't pass a background check.
Since then, the mayor said Monday that four of the gun show operators have agreed to require all buyers to submit to background checks - and one has vowed changes at all 34 of his shows.
It's an improvement, Bloomberg said, but it affects only a fraction of the nation's roughly 2,000 annual gun shows.
"Because of the lack of background checks, gun shows have really become magnets for criminals," Bloomberg said. "If you have a criminal record, a history of drug abuse or even if your name appears on a terrorist watch list, you can still walk into a gun show and buy a 9-mm. in the time it would take to buy a hamburger and fries at McDonalds."
The mayor last week launched a campaign to close the so-called gun show loophole.
This week, he announced his latest gun show sting at the Crossroads of the West show in Tucson that took place Jan. 23, two weeks after a crazed gunman killed six people at an Arizona shopping center - wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Detectives from the Kroll agency caught at least one gun seller at the Tucson show making a sale with a man who said he couldn't pass a background check.
Crossroads of the West does not appear willing to change any of its policies. A spokeswoman sent a statement condemning Bloomberg's sting.
"Mayor Bloomberg and his 'task force' have no legal authority in the state of Arizona, or in any other place in America except New York City," the statement said. "These forays into America's heartland committing blatant acts to entrap otherwise innocent gun owners is an unlawful scheme."
eeinhorn@nydailynews.com
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