When it comes to guns, New Yorkers know a thing or two. In August, people traded in 509 guns at a gun buyback program in Queens for cold hard cash; in September, monetary prizes were handed out in exchange for 85 guns in total over in Bushwick. This was followed a few months later with the signing of Governor Cuomo's gun control bill, as New York became the first state to actually do something about guns in a post-Newtown America.

And then we found out about this guy.

Kyle Coplen is the founder of the Armed Citizen Project. The mission of the organization is in its name: Coplen's group believes that the hoi polloi should be just as strapped as the police. By doing so, he argues that crime will slowly dissipate since, well, everyone will both figuratively and literally have a gun to their heads.

Coplen believes that the residents of New York City, under the anti-gun oversight of Bloomberg, Kelly and Cuomo, need guns in their hands more than ever. His plan? To give out free shotguns and training to learn how to use said shotgun to whoever wants one.

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With Rep. Gabrielle Gifford alongside him, President Obama called it a "pretty shameful day for Washington." Nearly five months after the massacre at Sandy Hook, the gun control package making its way through Congress shut down in the Senate yesterday. Democratic politicians were unable to muster the 60 votes necessary to push forward provisions that would require universal background checks for all gun users. It was a defeat for the Obama administration and a heavily paid victory for the NRA.

Enter Bloomberg.

In recent weeks, the mayor of New York City has posited himself as the anti-NRA figure, the head of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns with enough financial firepower to pressure senators into voting for the reform bill. That bill's death proves to be a setback for Hizzoner's group but it doesn't look like the mayor and his colleagues are giving up anytime soon.

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The substance of this story was almost fit to print.

We all know Mayor Bloomberg's stance on guns. He is a co-founder and head of Mayors Against Illegal Guns - a group of America's most powerful metropolitan leaders that all share a very strong stance on gun control. And he's backed his message with a treasure trove of cash that would even make Donald Trump a bit uneasy.

This is the guy who has been called a "bastard" by the NRA. This is the guy who, after what happened in Newtown, settled himself in D.C. with a lobbying effort and a half. This is the guy who has made gun control in New York City a talking point several times.

On Saturday, this sequence of events climaxed in the largest financial move by the Mayor on gun control yet: an announcement of a $12 million ad campaign, put together by his mayor-based group, in key states where senators are on the fence about the legislative package making its way through the Hill.

And, as per usual for Mr. Bloomberg, he's already receiving a ton of flak from the usual suspects.

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This Tuesday, there will be a Democratic primary for a Congressional seat left open by the resignation of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. The race will be the first major election since Newtown so guns are at the center of this one. Several left-leaning Democrats are vying for the chair and all of them have one thing in common: they support gun control in a city known for its gun violence.

Except one candidate has defected, catching the eye of none other than Mayor Bloomberg.

Former Rep. Debbie Halverson is running on a gun rights platform, much to the support of the NRA and the rural districts outside of the Illinois hub. As a result, Independence USA, the Mayor's quote-on-quote SuperPAC, is inserting bucket loads of cash ($2.2 million, to be exact) into anti-Halverson ads, spotlighting the woman for her position. The huge move comes after a November season where the Mayor was busy meddling in Congressional races concerning gun control and same-sex marriage across the country.

Like most New Yorkers, the political scene in Chicago is at a loss of words regarding the sheer personal wealth of the Hizzoner. The NRA has chosen to remain silent in the face of the new ads while a spokesperson for the Halverson campaign commented, "We're just not going to let a guy from N.Y. dictate what's going to happen in this election."

But a message from the Illinois State Rifle Association pretty much sums up this story: "Bloomberg is coming to your state. Be ready."

[jsurico15@gmail.com/@JSuricz]

As we said the last time this happened, we're still a bit afraid that this would become a "thing."

Remember, at the end of December, when the Journal News published the names and addresses of gun owners outside the City? And then that angry blogger posted the Journal News' staff names and addresses online in response? And then Gawker editor-in-chief John Cook of Gawker followed suit with a list of all the gun owners in the City?

Well, looks like the New York Times crew tried to jump on board of this ultra-transparency bandwagon. Except they didn't have as much luck.

Yesterday, a state appellate court struck down the media company's attempt to access the names and addresses of New York City's gun permit holders and hate crime victims. In 2010, before this gun control debate really took off, the Times tried to get a hold of the data through a Freedom of Information request to the NYPD. A year later, a state court upheld the request but that decision was reversed by the said appellate decision.

The SAFE Act passed by Governor Cuomo gives several exemptions to permit holders for withholding their information from public view. But, after this decision, looks like 'the media' will also fall into that category.

Maybe that'll prevent this story from continuing. Fingers crossed.

[jsurico15@gmail.com/@JSuricz]

Yesterday, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott bought space for two separate ads running in Manhattan and Albany urging New York gun owners to relocate to Texas. This came after New York lawmakers, led by Governor Andrew Cuomo, passed the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms (SAFE) Act. Signed on Tuesday, the NY SAFE Act represented the first significant gun control measures to be put in place since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut a little over a month ago.

One ad reads, "WANTED: LAW ABIDING NEW YORK GUN OWNERS LOOKING FOR LOWER TAXES AND GREATER OPPORTUNITY."

He's lying, of course. Texas doesn't want you. Odds are that if you're a gun-toting, red-blooded New Yorker, you might believe that gays and women are people, too, and that doesn't fly. Still, "Two Dick" Abbott* is slated to run for governor in Texas next year if the legendary Rick Perry decides against a fourth term. This ad campaign, if nothing else, shows the man's got some sand, some cheekiness, some cajones. And if that ain't vital in a gubernatorial race, we don't know what is.

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Obama's gun proposals are some of the most aggressive in decades

Just before noon, President Barack Obama addressed the nation to propose wide-ranging reform to curb gun violence in the country.

"While there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil," Obama said during his speech, "if there's even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there's even one life that can be saved, then we've got an obligation to try."

Obama called for some $500 million worth of changes to make Americans safer from gun violence. The president said that there have been 900 shooting deaths since the Newtown massacre 33 days ago, when gunman Adam Lanza took his mothers guns, shot here dead, then traveled to Sandy Hook Elementary School to kill six adults and 20 children before turning the gun on himself.

To fight what's become an epidemic in the country, Obama proposed an assault weapons ban, universal background checks for all gun buyers, and a ban of "high-capacity" magazines that can hold more than 10 bullets.

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