Law Enforcement: Bloomberg's Stunt Compromised Cases A source says New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's hiring of private investigators to make illegal straw purchases at out-of-state gun stores has compromised four criminal investigations and potentially jeopardized 14 others, reports the New York Daily News. The source said several suspects being watched by authorities had been frequenting some of the gun shops, but now are lying low because of the publicity. "A bunch of private eyes straight out of 'Barnaby Jones' run their own sting operation and all the real enforcement agencies find out about it on the day they are having a press conference? Not good," said the source, an unnamed law enforcement professional in Washington D.C. None of the ongoing cases was linked to New York, the source said. Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel, worried from the beginning that Bloomberg's stunt would compromise ongoing investigations, and now, "Today's news seems to confirm that the mayor's headline grab may have come at a real cost to public safety." Appearing Sunday on WNBC-affiliated Channel 4, New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly acknowledged that the city's police department was not consulted before the stings. ATF has acknowledged that it also was not consulted about the stings and has yet to receive any accumulated evidence, but says it's willing to investigate whether laws were broken either by the gun dealers or the private investigators. NSSF is calling for ATF's involvement.