WEST VIRGINIA SENATOR TELLS MAYOR BLOOMBERG DONT COME AROUND HERE WITH YOUR GUN STINGS!

West Virginia has a message for Mayor Bloomberg: Don't come 'round here to buy our guns.

A legislator there wants to ban the type of undercover stings that Bloomberg has used to showcase illegal gun sales in other states - and throw the mayor's investigators in jail if necessary.

"It's for us to handle within our own borders," said state Sen. Jeffrey Kessler, who is running for governor in 2012. "We jealously guard our gun rights, and we're vocal advocates for the Second Amendment."

He calls his proposal the "Bloomberg bill" - a reflection of how Bloomberg's anti-gun crusade has made him public enemy No. 1 to gun lovers.

The mayor has spent millions hiring private investigators to videotape gun dealers seemingly violating federal law - selling weapons to people who say they couldn't pass a background check, or who appear to be straw purchasers on behalf of others.

"It may be good for getting headlines, but it may well be compromising actual law enforcement activities," Kessler said. "He's not a federal law enforcement officer."

Bloomberg has defended the stings as necessary to keep out-of-state guns from ending up on New York streets and in the hands of criminals.

He has put the videos on YouTube and mailed copies to Congress. A spokesman refused to say whether more are in progress.

Kessler's bill would ban those stings, making a felon out of anyone who "persuades, encourages or entices" a gun dealer to make an illegal sale.

"It's not appropriate for any other law enforcement, absent the feds, to engage in gun buys - or try to entrap with gun buys - within our borders," Kessler said.

"If there are violations, they should be investigated by clearly recognized law enforcement in our state, rather than by bringing in hired goons to do it."

Bloomberg spokesman Jason Post fired right back, saying the mayor won't stop his fight.

"This legislation gets it exactly backward. The city has never broken the law, but we have caught unscrupulous gun dealers selling in violation of federal law," Post said.

"Because 90% of guns used in crimes in New York City come from out of state, we have been forced to go outside our own borders to keep New Yorkers safe."

Kessler said he introduced the bill after the National Rifle Association told him of similar proposals in other states. The NRA didn't return a call for comment, but Kessler said he expects his bill to become law.