Stunner: 'Aspiring Rapper' Shot Dead

No, it wasn't some rap feud resulting in the typical drive-by. This thug got plugged by the police after he pulled what they're calling a "machine pistol" on them. I always got a chuckle at how often the media describes some worthless piece of human debris who probably never had a legitimate job an aspiring rapper. Apparently there are thousands of them out there, aspiring to rap but detoured to the morgue.

He won't be missed.

Authorities on Friday were trying to determine why a street hustler shot dead in a Times Square gunfight with police was armed with a machine pistol and whether the aspiring rapper had links to gun dealers.

Raymond Martinez, who wrote songs about staring down cops in Times Square and hawked CDs to tourists, was carrying a pocketful of business cards from Virginia gun dealers and a stolen Mac-10 pistol when he was killed by a plainclothes officer near the Marriott Marquis hotel. The handgun, which held 30 rounds, jammed after Martinez got off three shots.

Martinez's weapon was reported stolen from a car last month in Richmond, Va., and there was some evidence he owned it for only a brief period of time — weeks at most and perhaps just days. A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Joseph Green, said investigators had traced the gun back to its original retail purchaser, but declined to reveal details.

Naturally anti-gun zealot Michael Bloomberg used the incident in his war on guns.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was asked about the shooting while appearing at a Manhattan charity event, and he used the question to discuss one of his signature issues — illegal firearms and gun violence in New York and other big cities.

Just one problem there, sport. The gun was legally purchased but was stolen, presumably by the now-deceased aspiring rapper. So unless Bloomberg can magically figure out how to prevent theft, he's barking up the wrong tree.