Mayor Gives Scorn to Guns, and Money to Their Allies
By DIANE CARDWELL
A month ago over lunch at the Four Seasons, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg urged a crowd of wealthy political donors to stop giving to candidates who do not support the city's priorities in Washington, like more money to fight terrorism or for a direct rail link to Kennedy Airport.
But when it comes to controlling the gun trade, an issue Mr. Bloomberg has pushed to the top of the city's legislative agenda, he has not been following his own advice. An analysis of Federal Election Commission filings shows that in recent years he has mostly opened his overstuffed checkbook for pro-gun candidates, often contributing the maximum permitted by campaign finance rules.
According to the filings, which list donations above $200, of the 11 Congressional candidates to whom Mr. Bloomberg has made contributions since 2000, 7 received high marks from the political arm of the National Rifle Association, the country's chief gun lobby. And as recently as 2004, Mr. Bloomberg spread $10,000 among three Republican congressmen, John E. Sweeney and Vito J. Fossella of New York and Harold Rogers of Kentucky, none of whom received lower than an A- from the N.R.A. that year, meaning they had a solid record of siding with the pro-gun lobby.
And recently, just days before Mr. Bloomberg gave wallet-size cards to the wealthy donors as handy reminders of the city's needs for when fund-raisers came calling, Mr. Bloomberg sent Mr. Sweeney $4,200, again hitting the maximum donation allowed for the current election cycle.
Indeed, Mr. Bloomberg's financial support is not limited to individual contributions. Earlier this year, he was the host at a fund-raiser at his Upper East Side town house for Mr. Fossella, bringing in roughly $100,000, according to a spokesman for the congressman.
Mr. Bloomberg has never shied away from using his fortune to advance his agenda, including the $160 million he spent to gain and hold his office and the hundreds of thousands he funnels to nonprofit groups to ease the pain of his budget cuts. But the sharp contradiction between his political largess toward certain lawmakers in Washington and some of his recent policy priorities reflects the tricky course he must negotiate as he seeks to become an influential voice on national issues.
