Arrested New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver joins Michael Bloomberg in trying to use the force of the state to ban guns in private hands -- in New York and in "Everytown."
The Examiner
New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been arrested on a five-count federal complaint charging him with accepting millions of dollars in exchange for using his political influence, New York Daily News reported Thursday. The charges are described as “stunning” for “the Manhattan Democrat [who has been] a state political fixture for decades.”
As such, Silver has been a leading proponent of “gun control” throughout his terms of office, including being a driving force behind passing Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “SAFE” Act. In 2012, Silver pushed through a package of bills after the Sandy Hook killings, using that as the springboard to enact legislation that had failed to be enacted in prior years, including microstamping, gun locks and “closing loopholes.” He stated his post-Newtown goal flatly, to impose “a complete ban on assault weapons.”
Silver’s arrest is reminiscent of other arrests for criminal acts that prominent citizen disarmament-demanding politicians have made headlines with in recent years, including numerous members of Michael Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns.” Other anti-gun pols charged with serious criminal activity include California State Senator Leland Yee, including racketeering and gun trafficking.
Silver’s arrest is expected to spark conversation among pro-gun activists discussing the case. As is typically the case when someone demanding to criminalize a right is himself found to be under suspicion of self-serving real crime, the environment that allows corruption to flourish also comes under scrutiny.
