Print
May 18, 2007 8:13 am US/Eastern
Gun-Loving Virginians Lash Out Against Bloomberg
Hundreds Attend Gun Giveaway, Rip New York City Mayor
by Marcia Kramer
ANANDALE, Va. (CBS) ―
Related Stories
-
May 10, 2007: Virginia AG To Bloomberg: Stop Covert Gun Buys (5/10/2007)
-
April 19, 2007: Bloomberg To Fund Anti-Gun Ad Campaign (4/19/2007)
-
Dec. 6, 2006: NYC Sues More Out-Of-State Gun Dealers (12/7/2006)
-
June 6, 2006: New Yorkers Push Anti-Gun Trafficking Measure (6/7/2006)
-
June 5, 2006: Gun Crime Offenders May Soon Have A Registry (6/5/2006)
-
June 4, 2006: More Mayors To Join Fight Against Illegal Guns (6/4/2006)
-
May 18, 2006: NYPD On The Look Out For Cell Phone Guns (5/18/2006)
-
May 16, 2006: NYC Sues In War On Illegal Guns (5/16/2006)
-
April 25, 2006: Mayors Meet In NYC, Vow To Get Illegal Guns (4/26/2006)
-
Jan. 1, 2006: Bloomberg To Make Guns A Top Priority In 2nd Term (1/2/2006)
Just over a month ago, Virginia was the site of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. On Thursday night it was the site of a gun giveaway to spite New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
A controversial contest was held as an attack against Bloomberg. A gun rights group staged the "Bloomberg Gun Giveaway" in response to lawsuits against two Virginia gun shops -- lawsuits spearheaded by Bloomberg.
Prosecute Mayor Bloomberg. Keep your gun-control ideas in New York City.
That's what hundreds of gun-toting Virginians had to say to Bloomberg Thursday night, and those were the polite ones.
"We're standing up against Mayor Bloomberg," said Jim Snyder of the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
Hundreds of people crammed into an Anandale auditorium for a chance to win a pistol and a rifle and emotions ran high.
"He has to mind his own business," said Stephan Mayr of South Arlington, Va., who was one of the giveaway's big winners. "We don't mess with him and he's messing with us."
Not long ago CBS 2 HD aired undercover video shot by Bloomberg operatives that showed Virginia gun dealers allegedly selling weapons. The manner in which Bloomberg went about spying on the dealers appears to be what has most locals down here riled up.
"Bloomberg was staging a publicity stunt," Snyder said. "It was a case of the big man, the big rich man suing small people and trying to shut them down and put them out of business."
However, not all Virginians were against Mayor Bloomberg. There were those with pro-Bloomberg posters and others who were the relatives of people who died at Virginia Tech.
"It's not hard to look at her picture. It's hard to think she'll never come home again," one upset woman said.
Those who didn't win the guns Thursday night were asked to keep their red losing tickets. The giveaway organizers asked people to keep them and send them to Mayor Bloomberg as yet another protest.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
