BLOOMBERG SHOULD CHANGE COURSE, WORK WITH INDUSTRY, SAYS CCRKBA

BELLEVUE, WA – With a third departure from Michael Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” coalition, and a warning from the Justice Department about conducting any further gun shop stings, the Big Apple mayor should change course in his campaign and work with the firearms industry, instead of against it, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb suggested that Bloomberg should take a different approach to the problem armed criminals present to his city, and stop trying to spread his brand of gun control all over the country.

“We know that the National Shooting Sports Foundation has appealed to Mayor Bloomberg in the past to work with them, but they’ve gotten a cold shoulder,” Gottlieb stated. “Last week, Bloomberg’s office was advised by the Justice Department that any further rogue operations like that gun shop sting could have serious legal consequences. It was also revealed that the sting is still under investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Bloomberg is a billionaire,” Gottlieb observed,” and he didn’t get there by being foolish. Last week’s disclosures are something of a warning, and we encourage him to take a hint and change his philosophy. We encourage Mayor Bloomberg to abandon this gun shop stupidity and pick up a telephone, call the NSSF and discuss some effective approaches to firearms safety and fighting crime by working with those who know firearms best.

“Instead of hosting a gathering of anti-gun politicians and inviting the media,” Gottlieb suggested, “he ought to skip the publicity stunts and engage in a meaningful dialogue with people from the firearms industry he is trying to crush, and with the people whose rights he is trying to destroy.

“An ounce of objectivity is worth a pound of arrogance,” Gottlieb said. “As it stands right now, Bloomberg’s sting and his mayors’ alliance is a lot of flash and very little substance. The firearms community is full of people who already know how to fight crime and promote genuine gun safety. They’re only a phone call away.”