New York's Bloomberg funds ad attacking Corbett on 'Florida loophole'

An unlikely figure has thrown his weight and his wallet behind an attack ad in the Pennsylvania governor's race: New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

The billionaire mayor put up $500,000 to underwrite a gun-control group's 30-second commercial urging voters to reject Republican candidate Tom Corbett, and to aid the group's efforts in other Pennsylvania races.

The anti-Corbett spot, financed via Bloomberg's donation to CeaseFire PA, began airing Monday on network and cable television in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Corbett "would allow violent criminals to carry guns," the ad declares.

It depicts a mother whose infant was fatally wounded by a stray bullet from an illegal firearm, and challenges Corbett's stance on a controversial aspect of the state's weapons laws - what critics have labeled the Florida loophole.

Corbett's campaign spokesman Kevin Harley dismissed the ad Thursday as "the liberal mayor of New York writing a big check to a liberal organization."

Harley also called the ad "factually inaccurate." He said Ryan Hacke, the baby whose photo is in the ad, died in 1997, four years before Pennsylvania reached a gun permit "reciprocity agreement" with Florida. The boy's mother, Mary Beth Hacke, makes no direct claim in the ad that the agreement led to her son's death - merely that a loophole in the law needs closing to prevent other gun deaths.

Corbett's Democratic opponent, Dan Onorato, said that he had heard little about the spot and that neither he nor his campaign had any role in its creation.

Bloomberg made no secret of his role in the ad. The mayor donated to CeaseFire PA knowing the money would be spent in support of Onorato and other pro-gun-control candidates, Bloomberg spokesman Jason Post said Thursday.

"The donation was made to the group, but the larger point is that the mayor is supporting candidates from all parties that share his stance on this issue," Post said.

The so-called Florida loophole has reared its head in several of the state's races this campaign season.

Because Pennsylvania has agreed to honor "concealed carry" gun permits from other states, most notably Florida, gun owners here can obtain nonresident licenses through the mail, even without a Pennsylvania permit.