Gun dealer takes on New York City in court

By Edith Honan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's crusade against illegal guns entered the courtroom on Tuesday in a battle against a Georgia gun dealer.

It is the first of two civil cases New York has brought against 27 gun dealers in five states -- Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia -- on the grounds that their sales practices allowed criminals to buy guns and then bring them into the city.

All but one dealer in the first lawsuit -- Jay Wallace -- has settled out of court. Wallace, 51, owner of a sporting goods store in the Atlanta, Georgia, suburb of Smyrna, vowed to fight on, likening his battle to David versus Goliath.

"I believe that I care more about firearms getting into criminals' hands than the mayor of New York City does," Wallace was quoted by local media has having said at Brooklyn federal court. "I'm in the business. I know how my business is run."

Jury selection for the trial began on Tuesday.

City lawyers said Bloomberg had planned to testify about the toll illegal guns have taken on the city, but last week U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein rejected that idea, saying Bloomberg's testimony would do nothing to advance the city's case and could instead create a "media circus."

The city has accused dealers like Wallace of allowing "straw purchases," a transaction where one person shops for a gun and then has someone else fill out the required federal forms to pass a background check.

The guns are then sold on New York City streets for twice or three times their original price, police say.