BELLEVUE, WA – Applauding the blunt honesty of Oldmans Township, NJ Mayor Harry Moore in his resignation letter to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the Second Amendment Foundation today said Moore’s candor should be an inspiration to everyone who opposes political demagoguery. Mr. Moore is the sixth mayor to quit the coalition.

“Regrettably,” Moore wrote in his letter to Bloomberg, “it has become abundantly clear to me that you are using this coalition of mayors to advance a hidden agenda of bringing lawsuits against members of the firearms industry and spreading anti-gun propaganda.” Cautioning Bloomberg against further “gun shop sting” operations – which brought a warning from the Department of Justice about interfering with genuine criminal investigations – Mayor Moore added, “I do not want the blood of a police officer on my hands so that you can advance your anti-gun litigation campaign.”

“Mayor Moore’s brutally candid assessment should stand as a warning signal to other municipal leaders who have been beguiled by billionaire Bloomberg’s siren song,” said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “This anti-gun coalition has never been about public safety, and Bloomberg and his closest colleagues know it. This has always been about getting access to sensitive gun trace data to fuel harassment lawsuits against the firearms industry, and to advance Bloomberg’s agenda of personal and political self-aggrandizement.

“We’ve known for a long time what Mayor Moore discovered with a little digging,” Gottlieb continued. “He learned that Mayor Bloomberg has actually rebuffed efforts by the firearms community to work with local, state and federal law enforcement to prevent criminal access to firearms. He also realized, and says so in his letter, that Bloomberg’s ultimate goal is ‘to end lawful firearms ownership and destroy a lawful American industry.’

“Michael Bloomberg and his vigilante mayors’ group must be stopped,” Gottlieb concluded. “It will come through the courageous leadership of people like Mayor Moore and other mayors who have quit Bloomberg’s coalition. In the real fight against crime, there is no room for lawsuit-happy, publicity-seeking demagogues like Michael Bloomberg.”