Bloomberg News Puts Spin on Louisiana Firearms Sale

This weekend Louisiana offered the first-ever Second Amendment Weekend Sales Tax holiday, where lawmakers approved a tax break for those looking to purchase firearms. The story that ran on Bloomberg.com was mostly clear about the facts, but we want to set the record straight on a point or two. Most importantly the author claimed this was to give the state’s 270,000 hunters a break. Again, buying guns isn’t just about hunting, but in fairness this article did run just before the start of dove hunting season, so maybe that’s how the writer put the facts together. The problem with this is that it would be considered lazy journalism in most circumstances, as there is no proof that just hunters were buying the firearms.

The bigger concern is that the writer felt compelled to add this strongly anti-firearm passage:

“Across the country, more than 450 municipal leaders, including Ray Nagin of New Orleans, have formed Mayors Against Illegal Guns to stop the spread of weapons. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a founding member of the group, which has supported gun buyback programs.”

While it might not seem like much, it has nothing to do with the story, and worse the writer notes that Nagin wasn’t reached for comment. So why include it? Well, with Bloomberg as the name of the magazine it seems that Bloomberg (Mike Bloomberg founded this magazine) would have to be in the story, especially if guns are involved.