New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has criticized the Obama administration for what he describes as an unwillingness to clamp down on illegal gun sales on the U.S.-Mexico border. The White House recently denied a request from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives for an emergency rule forcing gun dealers on the border to report bulk sales of assault rifles. Bloomberg condemned the denial, saying, “The White House decided that the illegal trafficking of thousands of semiautomatic assault rifles from the U.S. to Mexico is not an emergency, our coalition of over 550 mayors strongly disagrees.”
