President Clinton failed to invite a key group to his anti-violence meeting scheduled for Monday, May 10th, 1999. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), the nation’s second largest gun rights group, has received nothing from the White House, despite sending a letter, fax and e-mail expressing an interest in working to solve youth violence problems.
“While President Clinton has publicly insisted that we should put aside our differences to solve this crisis, he continues to exclude groups willing to work on real solutions,” stated Alan Gottlieb, Chairman of CCRKBA. “Once again, Clinton is putting politics before problem-solving, and that is a shame.”
The CCRKBA has endorsed several anti-violence proposals, including a narrowly crafted safe-storage proposal that does not violate gun rights in Washington State. Their efforts to pass the measure have been praised in The Seattle Times, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Tacoma News Tribune, The Everett Herald, and numerous other newspapers. The CCRKBA has endorsed the concept on the national level, but would like to work on the details. But working to prevent child access to firearms is hard to do if you are not invited to the meeting.
The CCRKBA’s commitment to being the “common-sense” gun lobby has caused other groups concerned about violence to work closely with them on resolving key issues. For this reason, it is even more surprising that the Citizens Committee was not invited to Clinton’s discussion on reducing violence in our youths.
“President Clinton deliberately ignored us when our organization could have presented some balance in the meeting room,” said Gottlieb. “His snub of us, combined with his litany of new gun control proposals before the meeting even starts, appears to show his disingenuous and conniving nature. I am very disappointed and hope that he sits down with us in the near future.”