Friday, June 15, 2007

Tiahrt blasts mayors group and KAKE TV for illegal guns campaign

U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt is in a showdown with a coalition of mayors (none of which are in Kansas) who say his amendment to a bill in 2003 prohibits public access to a database that tracks all firearms recovered at crime scenes. (See The Eagle's story for more details.) And the national campaign has been localized this week.

A drive-by bill board has been sweeping through downtown, television ads have aired and today there was a full page ad in The Eagle -- all urging Tiahrt to repeal the amendment. Though Tiahrt acknowledges some clarifications could be added to the bill, he stands by it, saying it protects undercover officers. And he blasted the Mayors Against Illegal Guns group that has opened a major campaign against the amendment and KAKE-TV for airing ads.

“We might expect this from the New York Times or an East Coast liberal media outlet with an agenda, but it is very disappointing that KAKE has decided to run this misleading ad,” wrote Tiahrt communications director Chuck Knapp in a statement this week. Since The Eagle ran a print ad from the same group, it seems likely Tiahrt is also upset with the newspaper. (See the New York Times' editorial on the issue that ran in their Sunday edition and a piece by the New York police commissioner in the paper.)

Washington reporter David Goldstein reported the base of the argument like this: "Tiahrt and others say the restrictions are necessary because disclosure could reveal names of undercover officers and informants, or tip off targets involved in investigations related to those weapons. (New York Mayor Michael) Bloomberg and more than 200 other mayors counter that the restrictions handcuff their efforts against violent crime where illegal guns are involved because they can't trace their source."

For more, see the Mayors Against illegal Guns site and Tiahrt's response to the campaign.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

The eagle only hopes Tiahrt "blasts" them so as to give them opportunities to take more cheap shots at him.

There are mayors and law enforcement agencies that agree with Tiahrt--not that you'd read about it in the eagle. There are mayors who jumped off Bloomberg's bandwagon once they saw his real agenda--not that you'd read about it in the eagle.

The eagle would lament cancer if Tiahrt discovered a cure.

Anonymous said...

It's a shame that all media except Fox News is liberal biased.

Anonymous said...

Methinks it would be a better use of Todd's time to find a solution.

Anonymous said...

Tiahrt's been lying for years, if he thinks it's wrong to lie then he should lead by example. For instance, Tiahrt ran on the issue of term limits. He thinks no Rep. should serve more than 12 years. How many years has Tiahrt been in office?

He also ran on the issue of balanced budgets. How's that going for Tanker Todd?

Anonymous said...

Ti-heartless doesn't care about law enforcement: he only cares about the donations from his NRA (Nazi Rifle Association) buddies!

Wake up, Kansas: you've been lied to by Tiarht for years, on many issues, and still haven't figured it out, even when nearly EVERYONE opposes the little money-grubber!

Anonymous said...

I see the typical republican 'fair and balanced' comments knocking the Eagle for this series.

Kansas has gotten to be such a joke because there are too many dumb republicans in this state.

These are the same idiots who believe that Darwin's theory is a joke, life must be preserved at all costs and no matter what the conditions, but everyone (including criminals) ought to have a gun - it's their constitutional right to be able to kill someone with one.

This isn't all republicas, just the radical ones.

No wonder this state is the butt of everyone's jokes.

Sensible gun laws protect the sportsman and keep guns out of the hands of the criminals. Yet for some reason, the NRA seems to fight any gun law even the sensible ones. In the meantime, policemen in cities continue to get shot up by felons carrying guns that they have no right to own.

And morons like Tiahart keep enabling their bad behavior in the name of the 'constitution' when its convenient for them, but would prevent a woman or individual or family from making a life choice that should be left up to them in the name of 'christianity'.

Anonymous said...

>These are the same idiots
>who ?>believe that Darwin's >theory is a joke,

It is. There is no evidence at all to support it.

Anonymous said...

"Sensible gun laws protect the sportsman and keep guns out of the hands of the criminals." B.S.!!
Laws DO NOTHING to prevent the criminals from doing what they do. You only hamper the ability of the law-abiding to defend themselves, and exercise their Constitutional right to bear arms, when you pass these laws. Guess what, you guys?! Criminals, by definition, DO NOT obey the laws! Quit going after the instrument, and go after the bad people! When you post a "gun free zone" I and other law-abiding people will obey that statute. Ergo, the only people inside with guns will be the bad guys. "No Guns" really means "Defenseless Victim Zone - Easy Target - Nobody Here Will Shoot Back."

Anonymous said...

It doesn't surprise that KAKE runs the advertisement. Given the number of info-mercials on KAKE, they must need money and are willing to run anything.

Anonymous said...

Tiarht (or whatever) is now playing with the big boys and is about to get slapped down. He doesn't care about undercover officers...heck, their guns are supplied by law enforcement.

Unknown said...

>These are the same idiots
>who ?>believe that Darwin's >theory is a joke,

It is. There is no evidence at all to support it.

OH YES....the hundreds of millions of years of fossil evidence PALES in comparison to a morality book written by non-scientifics 2,000 years ago.

Unknown said...

I would like to reaffirm what Zelda said: Gun laws do nothing to deter criminals. Taking firearms out of the hands of people who will obey the law is a RIDICULOUS solution to gun control.

Firearms are prolific in this county (as they are in many parts of the world). Anyone who wants to, and is prepared to illegally possess one, can get a pistol, rifle, automatic weapon, etc.

School children manage to get their hands on shotguns, pistols, semi-automatic rifles...they run amuck in our schools killing and maiming. By virtue of even possessing the weapons, THEY aren't obeying any "gun control" laws.

How is it, these people believe our law enforcement is going to be able to ferret-out gun-toting criminals if all of our undercover officers and informants have been exposed via this law?

As usual, this is a case of a BIASED media attempting to impose it's view of WRONG and RIGHT upon the populace.

~Dubya
wichitavoice.com

Anonymous said...

todd has been so infected with extreme gun mania he had no time to show up and vote on last years HR9. priorities todd.

Anonymous said...

Go to hell Tiahrt.

Anonymous said...

I knew there was another reason not to watch KAKE TV.

Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that most of the heated comments are from Anonymous. It figures that the religious conservative right would want to keep hidden.

For those who think Fox is the only news source to watch due to it's objectiveness - you're on crack.

Studies have shown that those who only watch Fox news are actually less informed than if they hadn't watched Fox at all. It's colossally laughable to think that Fox is the end all be all of news. Fox news is worse than any "liberal media". Furthermore Fox sensationalizes most of their news in order to keep their viewers. And watch how many times you hear "Some have said . . ." or "It has been reported that . . " That sort of intro keeps them from actually citing their sources. Fox is a right wing propaganda machine foisted upon us by Rubert Murdoch. Anyone who thinks otherwise should crawl out of their creationist holes and look around.

The state of Kansas is embarrassing for the outright uninformed views that most of you hold. If you were true Americans, you would question everything (even Fox news). You would read your news from multiple sources, not just sit on your overweight butt and watch Fox. You would not be a Republican or a Democrat. You would vote based on the person, not a single issue. But most of all, if you were a true American, you would understand that much of the world is non christian and you'd find a way to peacefully coexist instead of constantly looking down your noses at those who don't share your view. This is the same state that created Fred Phelps the God fearing homophobe (www.godhatesfags.com), Sam Brownback, and dumb children through "intelligent design" in the classroom. The entire country is laughing at you, can you hear them?