Washington - In a stinging defeat for Mayor Bloomberg, pro-gun-rights Democrats teamed with House Republicans yesterday to block local governments and law-enforcement agencies from gaining routine access to gun-purchase data.
The House Appropriations Committee defeated two attempts by gun-control advocates to strip restrictions on the use of information from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tracing gun sales.
"As happens too often in Washington, common sense didn't carry the day - special interests did," said Bloomberg, the co-chairman of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. [ap]