Some people dislike gays, others dislike guns. We should not base our laws on personal dislikes.

[spin]

103. It is interesting that you mention Mayor Bloomberg. ...

He is indeed a strong voice for stricter gun control. He is also a member of the 1%.

Perhaps that's why it is not surprising that in Mayor Bloomberg's kingdom of New York City other members of the 1% as well as the famous and the well connected can obtain permission to own and sometimes even carry firearms while the average citizen finds getting a permit a daunting and expensive task. It appears he supports "may issue" concealed carry.

Concealed carry in the United States

Concealed carry, or CCW (carrying a concealed weapon), refers to the practice of carrying a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner, either on one's person or in proximity.

***snip***

May-Issue

A May-Issue jurisdiction is one that requires a permit to carry a concealed handgun, and where the granting of such permits is partially at the discretion of local authorities (frequently the sheriff's department or police). The law typically states that a granting authority "may issue" a permit if various criteria are met. While an applicant must qualify for a permit by meeting criteria defined in state law, local jurisdictions in May-Issue states often have locally-defined requirements that an applicant must meet before a permit will be granted, such as providing adequate justification to the approval authority for needing a concealed carry permit (self-defense in and of itself may not be sufficient justification in some areas where justification is required).

A state that is de jure a May-Issue jurisdiction may range anywhere from Shall-Issue to No-Issue in practice,[27][28] i.e., Permissive May-Issue to Restrictive May-Issue, based on each licensing authority's willingness to issue permits to applicants. Alabama, Connecticut and Delaware are regarded as Permissive May-Issue states, while Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, and Puerto Rico are considered Restrictive May-Issue states. California, Massachusetts, and New York vary within state; Inland California, rural portions of Massachusetts, and Upstate New York are Permissive, while the New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco metropolitan areas are Restrictive. In some May-Issue jurisdictions, permits are only issued to individuals with celebrity status, have political connections, or have a high degree of wealth.[29][30][31] In some such cases, issuing authorities charge arbitrarily-defined fees that go well beyond the basic processing fee for a CCW permit, thereby making the CCW permit unaffordable to most applicants....emphasis added
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concealed_carry_in_the_United_States

The Rich, the Famous, the Armed

By JO CRAVEN McGINTY
Published: February 18, 2011

MEN and women. Democrats and Republicans. Doctors, lawyers, merchants and moguls. A remarkable, if relatively small, cross-section of New Yorkers legally own handguns, according to public records obtained by The New York Times.

Among the more than 37,000 people licensed to have a handgun in the city are dozens of boldface names and public figures: prominent business leaders, elected officials, celebrities, journalists, judges and lawyers.

***snip***

The 41,164 handguns registered with the Police Department as of Jan. 14 include those owned by more than 2,400 people who live outside the city but have permission to bring their weapons here — people like Roger E. Ailes, the president of Fox News, whose license lists an address in New Jersey; John J. Mack, the chairman of Morgan Stanley, who lives in Westchester County; and Sean Hannity, the conservative talk-show host, who lives on Long Island.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/nyregion/20guns.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

NYC's '1 percent' totally 'gun'-ho

By BRAD HAMILTON and GARY BUISO

Last Updated: 11:26 AM, April 22, 2012

The “1 percent” comes in piece.

Dozens of New York City’s billionaires, real-estate moguls and Wall Street CEOs are really loaded, according to the NYPD’s gun-permit list obtained by The Post under the Freedom of Information Act.

Top guns include Donald Trump, Marvel Comics head Isaac Perlmutter and Gristedes chairman and mayoral wannabe John Catsimatidis.

***snip***

The really loaded

Ronald Lauder: Worth $3.3 billion, No. 103 on Forbes

Donald Trump: Worth $2.9 billion, No. 128 on Forbes 400

Joseph Sitt: Coney Island developer with assets of $1 billion

Andrew Farkas: Island Capital CEO used to employ Andrew Cuomo.

Richard Fields: Hard Rock casino mogul

Howard Stern: Recently inked $400 million deal with Sirius

John Catsimatidis: Gristedes CEO worth $2 billion, No. 212 on Forbes

John Mack: Former Morgan Stanley CEO

Larry Gluck: Real-estate mogul owns Independence Plaza and heads Stellar Management.

Adam Rose: Owner of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.

Isaac Perlmutter: Marvel comics CEO worth $1.9 billion, No. 263 on Forbes.

Tommy Mottola: Bronx-born recording exec worth $100 million

George Klein: Real-estate mogul, CEO of Park Tower Group

Ivan Seidenberg: Former Verizon CEO made $62 in 2009-2011

Dana Duneier: CEO of Madison Avenue jeweler Clyde Duneier

Albert Fried: Managing director of venerable Wall Street firm Albert Fried & Company.

Martin Goodstein: Founder of Goodstein Management

Donald Trump Jr.: First son of The Donald works for the Trump Organization.

Eric Trump: Third son of Donald, he’s also in the family biz.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/the_really_loaded_gsK0QeUR76khfXuWYvruOJ

If you take the time to do some research you will discover that gun control has a long history of racism. For example the KKK used to use the fact that Black communities were basically disarmed to terrorize them. Today racism in the gun control movement is not as evident but still I feel it still exists. "May issue" firearm permits allow local authorities the opportunity to discriminate against minorities and the poor.

"Shall issue" concealed carry which is favored by gun owners and the NRA is color blind and discrimination free. If an individual can meet the requirements which include a criminal background check and proof of firearm safety training and pay a very reasonable fee he/she can get a concealed weapons permit in Florida. It matters not what your skin color is or if you are rich and famous or poor and unknown. Florida requires few limitations on firearm ownership and a resident of legal age can obtain a firearm from a gun shop if he/she can pass a NICS background check without permission from any local authorities. No racism is involved and I know many Blacks and Hispanics who own firearms and some have concealed weapons permits many of whom I have personally introduced to the shooting sports.