The hypocrisy of anti-Second Amendment politicians seems to know no bounds. We on the pro-rights side are used to politicians who, on the one hand, vote to restrict our natural right to keep and bear arms, “defund” the police and coddle criminals, while hiring private security for themselves, sometimes using taxpayer money. Then, there are those who pass unconstitutional gun laws that take years to fight in courts (with no guarantee of a victory) who turn out to be corrupt to the core. Finally, there are the exceptional hypocrites like Leland Yee who themselves break gun laws in a spectacular fashion and end up in prison, or some like Lovely Warren who manage to wiggle out of gun charges that would apply to ordinary people.

Today’s corrupt politician story comes from Connecticut. As reported by Brian Zahn in the New Haven Register:

State Rep. Michael DiMassa, D-West Haven, was arrested Wednesday on a federal criminal complaint charging him with one count of wire fraud.

DiMassa, 30, also is an employee for the city of West Haven and a resident of the city.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller said the government believes in excess of $636,000 is missing.

[…]

In a statement, federal officials allege that DiMassa and another individual in January formed Compass Investment Group LLC. Then, beginning in February, “Compass Investment Group LLC fraudulently billed the City of West Haven and its ‘COVID-19 Grant Department’ for consulting services purportedly provided to the West Haven Health Department that were not performed,” the statement says. “From February 2021 through September 2021, the City of West Haven paid Compass Investment Group a total of $636,783.70.”

This looks like a standard corruption story of taxpayer money being stolen using fictitious work as a pretext. So, what happened to the money?

“It is further alleged that DiMassa made several large cash withdrawals from the Compass Investment Group LLC bank account, some of which were made shortly before or after he was recorded as having made a large cash ‘buy-in’ of gaming chips at the Mohegan Sun Casino,” the statement said.

[…]

The investigator said on May 5, a payment voucher was submitted for $85,595 for “COVID-19 Legal + Lobbying + Site work for COVID-19 Clinic” provided to the city’s Health Department. That invoice listed 305 hours for consulting on legislative review of executive orders, 483 hours of consulting for support staff services, 305 hours for security and 102 hours of consulting for federal lobbying. The next day, a check was issued in that amount to Compass Investment Group by the city.

The day after the check was issued, it was deposited into the Compass Investment Group bank account and DiMassa allegedly withdrew $8,200. On May 10, 11, 13, 17 and 18, DiMassa made more withdrawals, all between $8,000 and $10,000, according to the affadavit [sic].

Connecticut State Rep. Mike DiMassa had a gambling problem and allegedly stole other people’s money to feed his habit. This is not an uncommon story. There are people with gambling addiction issues who unfortunately resort to law-breaking to continue their habit. However, unlike DiMassa, most people who visit casinos know when to stop and head home. There are also people who abstain altogether, typically for religious reasons. (My religious grandparents were absolutely against gambling, among other things.)

The irony here is that I don’t hear any calls for #CasinoControl, laying the blame elsewhere in response to DiMassa’s issues. DiMassa himself is a staunch gun control supporter and the gun control movement is driven by a vengeful attitude of laying the blame elsewhere for the actions of some.

Anti-Second Amendment group Connecticut Against Gun Violence (CAGV) gave Mike DiMassa an “A” rating for gun control. (Archive link). What did Rep. DiMassa do to earn his anti-Bill of Rights street cred? CAGV explains on their website:

How We Graded the Candidates

CAGV grades were determined using responses to the CAGV Candidate Survey sent to all candidates and, if the candidate is an incumbent, an assessment of their legislative record including votes in committee and whether they have introduced or co-sponsored bills or amendments to strengthen, or weaken Connecticut gun laws. Also considered are one-on-one interviews with CAGV, public statements, testimony, and appearances at public events.

Candidates who did not return the survey and have no publicly available record that reveals where they stand on gun regulation were not graded and therefore not listed.

Guess who else on the above list has an “A” rating? Everyone’s favorite gun control freak CT State Rep. Jillian Gilchrist, who has proposed an ammo tax on law-abiding citizens that will allegedly combat gun violence committed by criminals.

Although I empathize with Rep. DiMassa’s gambling addiction, his alleged theft of taxpayer money and his anti-constitutional stances are inexcusable. I’m not sad to see him face the consequences of his actions, and I hope he gets the book thrown at him as any ordinary citizen would for violating DiMassa’s favored unconstitutional gun laws.