Russert Drops a Little Bloomberg in Vegas Debate

Michael Bloomberg made a brief appearance at last night's Democratic debate in Las Vegas.

“The leading cause for death among young black men is guns, death, homicide,” host Tim Russert said to Hillary Clinton. “Mayor Bloomberg of New York, you all know him, he and 250 mayors have started a campaign, Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Russert went on, "Senator Clinton, when you ran for the Senate in 2000, you said everyone who wishes to purchase a gun should have a license, and that every handgun sale or transfer should be registered in a national registry. Will you try to implement such a plan?”

“Well, I am against illegal guns,” Clinton said. “I am also a political realist, and I understand the political winds are very powerful against doing enough to try to get guns off the street, get them out of the hands of young people.

She added, "The law in New York, as you state, the law in New York has worked to a great extent.”Michael Bloomberg made a brief appearance at last night's Democratic debate in Las Vegas.

“The leading cause for death among young black men is guns, death, homicide,” host Tim Russert said to Hillary Clinton. “Mayor Bloomberg of New York, you all know him, he and 250 mayors have started a campaign, Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Russert went on, "Senator Clinton, when you ran for the Senate in 2000, you said everyone who wishes to purchase a gun should have a license, and that every handgun sale or transfer should be registered in a national registry. Will you try to implement such a plan?”

Responding to a follow-up question, Clinton said she has backed off her plan for a national gun registry.

When Barack Obama was asked about a national registry, he said, “I don’t think we can get that done.”

Then, echoing Bloomberg’s complaint about the Tiahrt Amendment--which the mayor wants overturned--Obama went on to say, “But what I do think we can do is to provide just some common sense enforcement. One good example, this is consistently blocked, The efforts by law enforcement to obtain the information required to trace back guns that have been used in crimes to unscrupulous gun dealers.

He then said, "That’s not something that the N.R.A. [National Rifle Association] has allowed to get through Congress and as President, I intend to make that happen.”

UDPATE: A reader emailed to say, "Without prompting Russert was talking up Bloomberg on [the show] Morning Joe this morning. [He was] Citing exit polls in all the states thus far showing dissatisfaction with status quo."