Chris Christie Knocks Bloomberg-Like Politicians for Ramped-up Anti-Gun Rhetoric: 'Disturbed

Twelve people were brutally shot and murdered and dozens more wounded at a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo., last Friday.

But instead of taking at least a few days to reflect on the preciousness and frailty of human life, a handful of public figures --  most notably New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- have seized on this tragic event as an opportunity to push for stricter gun laws.

And New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is getting pretty sick of it.

“Can we at least get through the initial grief and tragedy for these families before we start making them political pawns?” Christie said on Monday.

“I am a little bit disturbed by the politicians who in the immediate aftermath of this type of tragedy try to grandstand on it, and I’m not going to be one of those people,” he added.

Although he didn’t mention the New York mayor by name, many critics believe that's who he's talking about.

Consider the following: During an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan, himself a long-time lover of restrictive gun laws, on Monday, Bloomberg actually suggested police go on strike until someone takes guns off the street.

"I don’t understand why police officers across this country don’t stand up collectively and say 'we’re going to go on strike, we’re not going to protect you unless you, the public, through your legislature, do what’s required to keep us safe,'" Bloomberg told Morgan.

He continued:

Police officers want to go home to their families. And we’re doing everything we can to make their job more difficult, but more importantly, more dangerous, by leaving guns in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them and letting people who have those guns buy things like armor-piercing bullets.

[...]

At some point, we have to understand that this is our children, our grandchildren, or us. But for the police officers, it's much more immediate.

Watch Bloomberg discuss his brilliant police strike idea [via CNN]:

(H/T: BI)

Front page photo sources: Time & Fishbowl DC