Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop is believed to be the first mayor to interview gun manufacturers on questions of social responsibility before granting weapons contracts. (Credit: Facebook.com/steven.fulop)
Local news
A New Jersey mayor is compelling gun manufacturers bidding for gun and ammunition contracts with the city police to answer questions on gun safety in what is believed to be the first such move in the nation.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said Wednesday that answering questions about social responsibility is now part of the bidding process.
The revised bid specifications include six questions intended to gauge the gun manufacturer’s responsibility to public safety, according to city documents.
The answers will impact the firm’s competitiveness, Fulop said. Refusal to answer the questions will deem their proposals incomplete.
The six questions are: “What do you do to combat illegal gun trafficking and illegal gun crime? Do you manufacturer and sell assault weapons for civilian use? Do you agree not to sell certain models of firearms for civilian use? Are you requiring your dealers to conduct background checks? Do you fund research related to gun violence and smart gun technology? Will you commit to prohibiting your brand name from being used in violent video games?”
An admitted gun control advocate who also happens to have military background, Fulop said he hopes to make Jersey City a national example for other cities.
I think it would be a hoot if the major gun manufacturers decided to skip sending a bid to this place. Maybe they could try unarmed officers as they do in the UK, which I'm sure is even more socially responsibile.
ReplyDeleteIf Jersey City wants unarmed police officers, that's fine with me. The police market, especially for this burg, is a small part of the total number of gun buyers in this country. But let's recall what happened to Smith & Wesson when that company made a deal with the Devil.
ReplyDeleteBoth of you jumped on the bizarre idea of unarmed police. No one is talking about that. They're talking about making gun manufacturers more socially responsible.
ReplyDeleteMike, my reason for jumping to the "bizarre" idea of unarmed police is because this Mayor is jumping to the bizarre idea of holding a manufacturer somehow responsible for someone's illegal use of their product.
DeleteThe manufacturer follows federal law as to only selling to licensed dealers, who themselves follow federal, plus state law as to how those purchases are conducted. Lets look at the quiz,
“What do you do to combat illegal gun trafficking and illegal gun crime?
The short answer is that they follow federal regulations regarding sales of their product.
"Do you manufacturer and sell assault weapons for civilian use?"
Only where its legal under state and federal law.
"Are you requiring your dealers to conduct background checks?"
All dealers are required to perform background checks. This is a federal law.
"Do you fund research related to gun violence and smart gun technology?"
Not really their lane. Again, a more socially responsible answer would be that smart gun technology would be included in law enforcement firearms first.
"Will you commit to prohibiting your brand name from being used in violent video games?”
I thought that the gun control lobby was pooh poohing that theory because it was suggested by those fiends at the NRA. I recall way back when everyone was getting the vapors over the first depiction of a single woman having a child out of wedlock on a show called "Murphy Brown". The response to the objections was "she's a fictional character", you likely cant get much more fictional than a video game.
Mikeb, if the mayor makes these demands, many gun makers will tell him where he can shove them. The ones who do sell to the city will find that the gun-buying public boycotts them. That's what I mean.
DeleteI doubt it.
DeleteLook at what happened with Smith & Wesson when that company agreed to nonsense.
DeleteSocially responsible elected officials are the true nightmare for the NRA and the gunsucks. They hate the idea that guns might be misused by other gunsucks.
ReplyDeleteOf course the response of the gun loons is to say if the city pursues these questions they will be left with no supply for their police weapons. Why do gun loons ALWAYS use fear to promote their position?
ReplyDeleteNo, the implication is that if Jersey City wants to limit their vendors to ones who answer the survey "correctly", that they won't be left with anyone to buy from.
DeleteAs I said, thanks for proving it, just fear tactics.
DeleteIt's not the gun manufacturers threatening to not sell- it's the city threatening to not buy. Do you understand the difference? If the industry doesn't capitulate, they'll either have no guns to buy, of they'll break their word.
DeleteTotally unheard of in a capitalistic society, that a buyer puts stipulations on a sale, if the seller wants their business. You are certainly not a capitalist.
DeleteTS, do you think the greedy gun manufacturers will all refuse to comply with the mayor's demands? Do you think that's even possible?
Delete"Totally unheard of in a capitalistic society, that a buyer puts stipulations on a sale, if the seller wants their business."
DeleteThe question is then, how bad does the company want their business. Some companies have made the decision to back up their words with deeds.
Barrett Firearms for example, in response to the State of California banning the possession of the .50BMG rifle by civilians, decided to stop providing products and services to government agencies in the state. They then went and developed the .416 Barrett caliber, which has quite similar ballistics as the .50BMG and is quite legal for California residents to own. If it had been me, I personally would have developed the .499 California to make sure the government folk got the message.
"In response to California's ban of civilian ownership of .50 BMG rifles, Barrett suspended sales and service to all law enforcement agencies in California.[7]
Barrett has also developed the .416 Barrett, a rifle round based on the .50 BMG. The purpose of this round is to allow first round hits out to 2,500 meters (2,730 yd) from a cold bore and is not prohibited for sale to civilians in California."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrett_Firearms_Company
The greedy gun manufacturers will go after the money. Do you think that means dropping the civilian market to go after one mid-sized city in New Jersey? The survey actively calls for the vendor to stop all civilian sales of certain weapons, so even if there is no consumer backlash, the economics don't work.
DeleteNot sure what you are blabbering about, those facts do not refute my comment. Typical lying gun loon. Change the topic.
Delete