Rahm Emanuel Trying To Bully Gun Industry

Anti-gun Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is taking his demagoguery to a new level by attempting to coerce banks into refusing service to firearms manufacturers. Emanuel is pushing the White House anti-gun agenda and Feinstein's stated goal when she says we need to: "dry up the supply of these weapons over time."



CBS News in Chicago reported that Emanuel a letter sent to the CEOs of Bank of America (which received TARP bailouts) and TD Bank (aka Toronto Dominion Bank). Emanuel was pressuring the two major banks to stop lines of credit to Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co., two of the largest gun makers in the industry. In letters to bank executives, Emanuel reportedly said he wanted to send a message to gun makers that they must buckle under gun control measures being pushed by the Obama administration saying:


"In the past, the gun industry has stood in opposition to these safety measures. They opposed a ban on assault weapons on America's streets, opposed a ban on military-style clips, opposed a criminal background check on all gun purchases and opposed any effort to crack down on criminal gun traffickers."


Mayor Emanuel is acting like a thug and a Chicago gangster instead of a public servant, and we are very concerned that there might be legal ramifications. How dare any mayor engage in this kind of anti-gun lobbying effort, brazenly working to cut off operating capital to a pair of perfectly legal United States corporations! He is attempting to damage law abiding companies employing Americans engaged in perhaps the most heavily-regulated business in the country.

Mayor Emanuel is allegedly contending that lines of credit should dry up unless Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co. submit to operating their businesses the way anti-gunners demand. That conduct seems more in the realm of a street thug than a political leader, but then, again, we're talking about a mayor who presides over a city with Draconian gun laws and a murder rate rivaling a Third World country.

Senator Ted Cruz from Texas took our side on the matter when he sent a letter to bank officials and the two major firearms manufacturers that blasted the strong arm tactics of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Part of the letter included:

"We (in Texas) do not accept the notion that government officials should behave like bullies, trying to harass or pressure private companies into enlisting in a political lobbying campaign."

He also sent a copy of the letter to Rahm himself.



We appreciate Sen. Cruz for weighing in on this controversy. He's got the kind of backbone one expects of a Texan, and he's drawn a line in the sand that's every bit as bold as the one Col. Travis drew at the Alamo.

Cruz went on to criticize Obama and Emanuel directly, saying their efforts:


"call into doubt the claims of President Obama and Washington Democrats that they do not seek to strip Americans of our Second Amendment rights. Your continued anti-gun crusade may well cause some to wonder if the interests of the citizens of Chicago are being sacrificed in pursuit of a partisan agenda."

Emanuel is a career anti-gunner who served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, typically as point man on some kind of gun control effort.

Mayor Emanuel seems to be under the illusion that he can force banks to act as his surrogates in an unrelenting campaign to crush the firearms industry and erase the Second Amendment. This is insidious and we hope the banks recognize it for the kind of below-the-belt political chicanery for which Chicago politicians have become famous. No wonder they sometimes refer to him as 'The Godfather'.



Sincerely,

Alan M. Gottlieb
Chairman
Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms


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