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Opencarry.org on Examiner.com again

RubberArm

Regular Member
Joined
May 12, 2009
Messages
51
Location
Lincoln Park, Michigan, USA
imported post

http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seat...yor-Nickels-setting-stage-for-legal-slap-down

Excerpt:
There are theories why Nickels doesn’t seem to get this. If one logs onto OpenCarry.org, a popular forum for open carry activists, it’s because he is an idiot. But that’s too simple (though the open carry crowd might get plenty of support for that analysis).
And at the bottom it states:

And Don’t forget to visit:KeepAndBearArms.comGunVoter.orgTheHighRoad.usOpenCarry.org
 

No NAU

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
107
Location
Bend, Oregon, USA
imported post

Since the article mentions his membership in MAIG...

"Another theory is that he is trying to look good for a position that may be invented just for him: executive director of the anti-gun Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG). He was a founding member of that gun prohibitionist group."

Let's look at some info re: MAIG... This was posted to wikipedia but got taken down. Link to full article is below.

Indicted, convicted, and scandalized members

A substantial number of member of the coalition have been indicted in recent months, on felony charges. Here in the US, conviction of felony means the immediate loss of both the right to vote and the right to own a gun for the rest of one's life. This is an organization that espouses doing away with "illegal guns", yet a surprising number of their members have made choices in their lives that have set themselves on the path to being disenfranchised from ever owning a gun.

Personal character and integrity are prerequisites for anyone entering public office, to serve in an elected position of "special trust and confidence", such as a mayorship. Abuses of that trust, gross lapses of integrity, and forays into criminal conduct are not tolerated in our society. If anything, elected politicians are held to a higher standard than the general public, and their actions are closely watched. For an elected official to become a criminal, when they themselves are entrusted to protect us from criminals is nearly the most heinous and unforgivable thing imaginable in a democratically-ruled republic. For some of these same individuals to continue to be considered members in good standing of a "crime-fighting" organization--and not even censured by the organization--has been criticized as being hypocritical.

Four current and former members of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition are currently under felony indictments, five others were recently convicted of felonies, one indicted member died of a heart attack before completion of his trial, and one member was recently convicted of a violent misdemeanor. The indicted and convicted members and former members include:

Former Mayor Gary Becker[3] of Racine, Wisconsin is under five felony indictments for child pornography, attempted child sexual assault and child enticement.[4] He resigned after pleading not guilty and being released on bond.[5] His location is currently being monitored electronically, as he awaits a trial scheduled to begin in October, 2009.[6]

Former Mayor David Della Donna[7], of Guttenberg, New Jersey was indicted under a Federal extortion and mail fraud charges.[8] He was convicted in 2008[9] and sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.[10]

Mayor Sheila Dixon was indicted in 2009 on twelve counts[11], comprising four counts of perjury, two counts of misconduct, three counts of theft, and three counts of fraudulent misappropriations.[12] The felony theft charges stem partly from incidents in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 in which she allegedly misappropriated gift cards intended for the poor and used them for personal purchases.[13][14] Dixon's trial, originally scheduled for September 8, 2009, was postponed to November 9, 2009.[15]

Mayor Jerramiah Healy was convicted for obstruction of justice in 2007[16] and more recently was implicated in the corruption sweep in New Jersey involving the sale of body parts and money laundering. In all, 44 individuals were indicted. (Healy was named as "JC Official 4" and implicated, but was not indicted, in the probe.)[17][18][19]

Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was indicted, arrested, and convicted. and subsequently jailed for 99 days. Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony obstruction of justice charges stemming from his efforts to cover up an extramarital affair. He also pleaded no contest to charges of assaulting a police officer attempting to serve a subpoena on a Kilpatrick friend in that case.[20] The charges and allegations (not all against Kilpatrick himself) were of marital infidelity, conspiracy, perjury, corruption and murder.[21] Following Kilpatrick's conviction, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms called on Kilpatrick to resign from the Coalition.[22]

Mayor Larry Langford was investigated in 2007 by the SEC on corruption charges. In 2008 a lawsuit was filed against him for illegally accepting $156,000 in cash and benefits. On December 1, 2008, Larry Langford was arrested by the FBI on a 101 count indictment[23] alleging conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns[24] in connection with a long-running bribery scheme.[25][26][27] His trial date was postponed to October 2009, and the trial venue moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[28]

Deceased Mayor Frank Melton at the time of his death was under felony indictment on civil rights charges.[29] (He died before a scheduled re-trial, following a mistrial.) In 2006, Melton pled guilty to a firearms charge, stemming from a raid (in which he was armed with a concealed pistol) on a suspected crack house. Melton conducted the extra-official Buford Pusser-style raid without a warrant to "bust up" a duplex apartment, accompanied by a group of youths that were not sworn law enforcement officers. That same event led to Melton's civil rights indictment. In November 2006, he pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor charges: carrying a gun in a park and in a church, and carrying a concealed weapon.[30]

Mayor Eddie Perez was indicted on bribery, fabricating evidence, and conspiracy to fabricate evidence felony charges.[31] Perez turned himself in to state police, stating that he had a lapse in judgment but did nothing illegal, and vowed that he would not step down as Hartford's mayor.[32] He was arraigned on September 8, 2009.[33] His trial date was postponed to November 2009[34], and then to February, 2010.[35] On September 2, 2009 Perez was again arrested, and additionally charged with first-degree larceny by extortion, stemming from a no-bid parking lot deal, unrelated to the other corruption charges.[36] He again proclaimed that he would stay in office, despite these new felony charges.[37]

Former Mayor Samuel Rivera, of Passaic, New Jersey was convicted of corruption, influence peddling, and extortion charges.[38][39] In August 2008 he pled guilty,and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.[40]
In 2008, former Mayor Will Wynn was convicted of Class C misdemeanor, for a choking assault on a man who had crashed a party.[41]
Five current members of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition have been troubled by scandals that involved firearms:

As New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg came into office, he inherited a chronic firearms permit favoritism scandal from his predecessors that still remains an unresolved issue. Writing in the New York Sun, attorney David Kopel observed: "The problem is acute in New York City. Celebrities, the ultra-wealthy, and the politically influential get carry permits. But many of the people who need them the most — such as stalking victims, or crime witnesses who have been threatened by the criminal's friends — often do not."[42] There are currently only about 36,169 permits to keep firearms in private homes in New York City, with the majority issued to retired police officers. Of these permit holders, only 2,516 are more liberally licensed for concealed carry outside their homes. The issuance of permits is discretionary in New York City, per Penal Law 400[43]. (It is considered a "may issue" locality, unlike the "shall issue" policy used for concealed carry in most other localities.) Despite "tight" restrictions on "demonstrated need or special danger", a who’s-who list of celebrities, billionaires[44], entertainers[45], professional athletes[46], and politicians[47] has somehow managed to get firearms permits. This list includes New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, publisher Michael Korda, and talk show host Howard Stern.[48] In 2007, The New York Post reported that gun license holders include financier Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., Queens district attorney Richard A. Brown, Westchester County district attorney, Janet DiFiore, music executive Tommy Mottola, chief executive of Marvel Comics, Isaac Perlmutter, radio show host Don Imus, lawyer Barry Slotnick, lawyer Raoul Felder; publisher Robert Forbes, the cab-driving political activist Fernando Mateo, former new York Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (recently indicted for fraud), actor Robert De Niro, actor Harvey Keitel, film producer Martin Bregman, cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, and Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler.[49][50] All of these individuals have retained their gun licenses under Bloomberg's "tough on guns" administration. The New York Post noted: "Television news anchor John Roland, who let his license lapse in 2006, got his gun permit back in 2007."[51] A surprisingly high number of celebrities have concealed carry permits, rather than the more common "keep at home" (premise) permits. According to The New York Times, "Mr. Bloomberg asked Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly to look at the issue, and added: 'If you want a gun permit, you should have to really show that your life is in danger, and that having a gun will protect you, will improve the chances of you surviving.'"[52] But despite Bloomberg's publicly-stated concern, there have been no announcements of any celebrity gun permits being rescinded, or any reforms to prevent favoritism, cronyism, bribes, or other abuse of discretion in license issuance. With a city population of 8.3 million, the 36,169 gun permit holders represent just .043% of the population and the 2,516 concealed carry permit holders represent a scant .003% of the population.

Mayor Richard M. Daley has been criticized for the city of Chicago's long-standing practice of providing armed bodyguards for a number of city politicians, including city clerk James "Jim" Laski. In the city clerk scandal, Daley was shamed into removing the perk of the armed bodyguards for the clerk. The Chicago Sun-Times reported: "The decision was made almost immediately after Laski became the first elected official to be caught up in the Hired Truck scandal. But Daley insisted that the bribery and extortion charges against Laski were not the trigger. It was the fact that, until this week, Laski had not been showing up for work."[53] Laski was later convicted of taking $48,000 in bribes and received a two year sentence.[54] Former Mayor Eugene Sawyer, City Treasurer Judy Rice and Alderman Edward M. Burke, chairman of the City Council's Finance Committee still have armed bodyguards.[55]

Mayor Gerald Jennings of Albany, New York was implicated in a scandal regarding the alleged illegal purchase of 52 machine guns.[56] It is unclear whether the weapons were purchased for departmental use or for the use of private individuals. Weapons were delivered to Police Department addresses but apparently paid for with private funds. The Department has not produced a list of weapons, their location, the names of the individuals who purchased them, or their disposition or destruction. At least one later turned up, illegally for sale to the public, in an area gun store. The police officer who sold the gun to the store has testified that he bought it from a Police Union official who was also the Department's armorer.[57] The current Chief of Police is the fifth appointed by Jennings.[58] The case is still open.[59]

Following the illegal seizure of firearms in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Ray Nagin settled a lawsuit and had a permanent injunction issued prohibiting Nagin or any New Orleans employee from confiscating any lawfully possessed firearm and ordering the return of hundreds of illegally confiscated firearms. (They had been confiscated at Mayor Nagin's order.).[60] Nagin's administration has also been troubled by reports of improprieties with the police department evidence rooms, where guns were stolen, guns were allowed to rust, and $200,000 in cash was stolen.[61][62]

Mayor Bill White's administration has been embarrassed by an ongoing scandal involving guns stolen from the Houston Police Department's evidence room. In January 2009, the Houston Chronicle reported: "For months, maybe years, people with criminal backgrounds had access to secure areas of the police station, including a property room from which 30 guns disappeared within six months, according to internal police documents. The documents, obtained by the Houston Chronicle, indicated that lax security created an environment ripe for theft. No one has been charged in the gun thefts, although police suspected telephone repairmen who admitted stealing other items, and a temporary employee who had access to the property room while awaiting trial on aggravated robbery charges."

http://www.conservapedia.com/Mayors_Against_Illegal_Guns
 

marine77

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Messages
167
Location
, ,
imported post

No NAU wrote:
Since the article mentions his membership in MAIG...

"Another theory is that he is trying to look good for a position that may be invented just for him: executive director of the anti-gun Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG). He was a founding member of that gun prohibitionist group."

Let's look at some info re: MAIG... This was posted to wikipedia but got taken down. Link to full article is below.

Indicted, convicted, and scandalized members

A substantial number of member of the coalition have been indicted in recent months, on felony charges. Here in the US, conviction of felony means the immediate loss of both the right to vote and the right to own a gun for the rest of one's life. This is an organization that espouses doing away with "illegal guns", yet a surprising number of their members have made choices in their lives that have set themselves on the path to being disenfranchised from ever owning a gun.

Personal character and integrity are prerequisites for anyone entering public office, to serve in an elected position of "special trust and confidence", such as a mayorship. Abuses of that trust, gross lapses of integrity, and forays into criminal conduct are not tolerated in our society. If anything, elected politicians are held to a higher standard than the general public, and their actions are closely watched. For an elected official to become a criminal, when they themselves are entrusted to protect us from criminals is nearly the most heinous and unforgivable thing imaginable in a democratically-ruled republic. For some of these same individuals to continue to be considered members in good standing of a "crime-fighting" organization--and not even censured by the organization--has been criticized as being hypocritical.

Four current and former members of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition are currently under felony indictments, five others were recently convicted of felonies, one indicted member died of a heart attack before completion of his trial, and one member was recently convicted of a violent misdemeanor. The indicted and convicted members and former members include:

Former Mayor Gary Becker[3] of Racine, Wisconsin is under five felony indictments for child pornography, attempted child sexual assault and child enticement.[4] He resigned after pleading not guilty and being released on bond.[5] His location is currently being monitored electronically, as he awaits a trial scheduled to begin in October, 2009.[6]

Former Mayor David Della Donna[7], of Guttenberg, New Jersey was indicted under a Federal extortion and mail fraud charges.[8] He was convicted in 2008[9] and sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.[10]

Mayor Sheila Dixon was indicted in 2009 on twelve counts[11], comprising four counts of perjury, two counts of misconduct, three counts of theft, and three counts of fraudulent misappropriations.[12] The felony theft charges stem partly from incidents in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 in which she allegedly misappropriated gift cards intended for the poor and used them for personal purchases.[13][14] Dixon's trial, originally scheduled for September 8, 2009, was postponed to November 9, 2009.[15]

Mayor Jerramiah Healy was convicted for obstruction of justice in 2007[16] and more recently was implicated in the corruption sweep in New Jersey involving the sale of body parts and money laundering. In all, 44 individuals were indicted. (Healy was named as "JC Official 4" and implicated, but was not indicted, in the probe.)[17][18][19]

Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was indicted, arrested, and convicted. and subsequently jailed for 99 days. Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony obstruction of justice charges stemming from his efforts to cover up an extramarital affair. He also pleaded no contest to charges of assaulting a police officer attempting to serve a subpoena on a Kilpatrick friend in that case.[20] The charges and allegations (not all against Kilpatrick himself) were of marital infidelity, conspiracy, perjury, corruption and murder.[21] Following Kilpatrick's conviction, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms called on Kilpatrick to resign from the Coalition.[22]

Mayor Larry Langford was investigated in 2007 by the SEC on corruption charges. In 2008 a lawsuit was filed against him for illegally accepting $156,000 in cash and benefits. On December 1, 2008, Larry Langford was arrested by the FBI on a 101 count indictment[23] alleging conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns[24] in connection with a long-running bribery scheme.[25][26][27] His trial date was postponed to October 2009, and the trial venue moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[28]

Deceased Mayor Frank Melton at the time of his death was under felony indictment on civil rights charges.[29] (He died before a scheduled re-trial, following a mistrial.) In 2006, Melton pled guilty to a firearms charge, stemming from a raid (in which he was armed with a concealed pistol) on a suspected crack house. Melton conducted the extra-official Buford Pusser-style raid without a warrant to "bust up" a duplex apartment, accompanied by a group of youths that were not sworn law enforcement officers. That same event led to Melton's civil rights indictment. In November 2006, he pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor charges: carrying a gun in a park and in a church, and carrying a concealed weapon.[30]

Mayor Eddie Perez was indicted on bribery, fabricating evidence, and conspiracy to fabricate evidence felony charges.[31] Perez turned himself in to state police, stating that he had a lapse in judgment but did nothing illegal, and vowed that he would not step down as Hartford's mayor.[32] He was arraigned on September 8, 2009.[33] His trial date was postponed to November 2009[34], and then to February, 2010.[35] On September 2, 2009 Perez was again arrested, and additionally charged with first-degree larceny by extortion, stemming from a no-bid parking lot deal, unrelated to the other corruption charges.[36] He again proclaimed that he would stay in office, despite these new felony charges.[37]

Former Mayor Samuel Rivera, of Passaic, New Jersey was convicted of corruption, influence peddling, and extortion charges.[38][39] In August 2008 he pled guilty,and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.[40]
In 2008, former Mayor Will Wynn was convicted of Class C misdemeanor, for a choking assault on a man who had crashed a party.[41]
Five current members of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition have been troubled by scandals that involved firearms:

As New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg came into office, he inherited a chronic firearms permit favoritism scandal from his predecessors that still remains an unresolved issue. Writing in the New York Sun, attorney David Kopel observed: "The problem is acute in New York City. Celebrities, the ultra-wealthy, and the politically influential get carry permits. But many of the people who need them the most — such as stalking victims, or crime witnesses who have been threatened by the criminal's friends — often do not."[42] There are currently only about 36,169 permits to keep firearms in private homes in New York City, with the majority issued to retired police officers. Of these permit holders, only 2,516 are more liberally licensed for concealed carry outside their homes. The issuance of permits is discretionary in New York City, per Penal Law 400[43]. (It is considered a "may issue" locality, unlike the "shall issue" policy used for concealed carry in most other localities.) Despite "tight" restrictions on "demonstrated need or special danger", a who’s-who list of celebrities, billionaires[44], entertainers[45], professional athletes[46], and politicians[47] has somehow managed to get firearms permits. This list includes New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, publisher Michael Korda, and talk show host Howard Stern.[48] In 2007, The New York Post reported that gun license holders include financier Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., Queens district attorney Richard A. Brown, Westchester County district attorney, Janet DiFiore, music executive Tommy Mottola, chief executive of Marvel Comics, Isaac Perlmutter, radio show host Don Imus, lawyer Barry Slotnick, lawyer Raoul Felder; publisher Robert Forbes, the cab-driving political activist Fernando Mateo, former new York Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (recently indicted for fraud), actor Robert De Niro, actor Harvey Keitel, film producer Martin Bregman, cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, and Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler.[49][50] All of these individuals have retained their gun licenses under Bloomberg's "tough on guns" administration. The New York Post noted: "Television news anchor John Roland, who let his license lapse in 2006, got his gun permit back in 2007."[51] A surprisingly high number of celebrities have concealed carry permits, rather than the more common "keep at home" (premise) permits. According to The New York Times, "Mr. Bloomberg asked Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly to look at the issue, and added: 'If you want a gun permit, you should have to really show that your life is in danger, and that having a gun will protect you, will improve the chances of you surviving.'"[52] But despite Bloomberg's publicly-stated concern, there have been no announcements of any celebrity gun permits being rescinded, or any reforms to prevent favoritism, cronyism, bribes, or other abuse of discretion in license issuance. With a city population of 8.3 million, the 36,169 gun permit holders represent just .043% of the population and the 2,516 concealed carry permit holders represent a scant .003% of the population.

Mayor Richard M. Daley has been criticized for the city of Chicago's long-standing practice of providing armed bodyguards for a number of city politicians, including city clerk James "Jim" Laski. In the city clerk scandal, Daley was shamed into removing the perk of the armed bodyguards for the clerk. The Chicago Sun-Times reported: "The decision was made almost immediately after Laski became the first elected official to be caught up in the Hired Truck scandal. But Daley insisted that the bribery and extortion charges against Laski were not the trigger. It was the fact that, until this week, Laski had not been showing up for work."[53] Laski was later convicted of taking $48,000 in bribes and received a two year sentence.[54] Former Mayor Eugene Sawyer, City Treasurer Judy Rice and Alderman Edward M. Burke, chairman of the City Council's Finance Committee still have armed bodyguards.[55]

Mayor Gerald Jennings of Albany, New York was implicated in a scandal regarding the alleged illegal purchase of 52 machine guns.[56] It is unclear whether the weapons were purchased for departmental use or for the use of private individuals. Weapons were delivered to Police Department addresses but apparently paid for with private funds. The Department has not produced a list of weapons, their location, the names of the individuals who purchased them, or their disposition or destruction. At least one later turned up, illegally for sale to the public, in an area gun store. The police officer who sold the gun to the store has testified that he bought it from a Police Union official who was also the Department's armorer.[57] The current Chief of Police is the fifth appointed by Jennings.[58] The case is still open.[59]

Following the illegal seizure of firearms in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Ray Nagin settled a lawsuit and had a permanent injunction issued prohibiting Nagin or any New Orleans employee from confiscating any lawfully possessed firearm and ordering the return of hundreds of illegally confiscated firearms. (They had been confiscated at Mayor Nagin's order.).[60] Nagin's administration has also been troubled by reports of improprieties with the police department evidence rooms, where guns were stolen, guns were allowed to rust, and $200,000 in cash was stolen.[61][62]

Mayor Bill White's administration has been embarrassed by an ongoing scandal involving guns stolen from the Houston Police Department's evidence room. In January 2009, the Houston Chronicle reported: "For months, maybe years, people with criminal backgrounds had access to secure areas of the police station, including a property room from which 30 guns disappeared within six months, according to internal police documents. The documents, obtained by the Houston Chronicle, indicated that lax security created an environment ripe for theft. No one has been charged in the gun thefts, although police suspected telephone repairmen who admitted stealing other items, and a temporary employee who had access to the property room while awaiting trial on aggravated robbery charges."

http://www.conservapedia.com/Mayors_Against_Illegal_Guns

If this is just mayors, just think what could be gotten from other politicals throughout

the u.s.
 
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