SEATTLE MAYOR’S ATTENTION FOCUSED IN WRONG DIRECTION, SAYS CCRKBA

BELLEVUE, WA – The indictment of Jacob Nickels, son of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, on charges relating to a conspiracy to cheat casinos is enough to suggest that the anti-gun mayor – who supports laws that would treat all gun owners like criminals – perhaps should look closer to home to find someone who really needs his character scrutinized, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb noted, “While Mayor Nickels, a member of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun mayors’ coalition, has been devoting so much energy looking for, or trying to create, criminals in the firearms community, he may have had one living right under his nose. But what can you expect from a man who looks the other way when Bloomberg mounts an illegal sting operation against gun dealers that has drawn the scorn of the federal Justice Department and the attorneys general in Virginia and Georgia? Evidently, Nickels looks the other way on a lot of criminal activity.”

“Unlike some people, we maintain that Jacob Nickels must be presumed innocent until he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” added CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron. “That’s the same consideration that Mayor Nickels has sought to deprive from gun owners, particularly those who attend gun shows in this state. In his eyes, people who attend gun shows are up to no good. Maybe now he will understand why this state’s firearms owners find his attitude so offensive.”

“Law-abiding gun owners, by definition, are not criminals,” Gottlieb stated. “Yet for the past year, the mayor has argued for restrictive laws that treat them like criminals, while having no net effect on criminal activity, and he knows it.

“But isn’t it ironic,” Gottlieb noted, “that Mayor Nickels won’t comment on the allegations against his son until he knows more, yet he has had plenty to say over the past several months about gun laws, and gun shows in particular. He’s declared that gun owners and gun shows need more scrutiny when there is no evidence of a crime. His own kid stands indicted by the federal government, and there seems to be quite a bit of evidence, and Nickels suddenly loses his voice.

“Perhaps this unfortunate case will convince Mayor Nickels he ought to keep his mouth shut more often,” Gottlieb said.