BELLEVUE, WA – The hysteria-laden reaction from members of her own party to last week’s appointment of New York Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton proves that Democrats are still the party of gun control, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
“Kirsten Gillibrand gets high marks from the ACLU and from the Americans for Democratic Action,†noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “She supports abortion rights, stem cell research and health care protection for children – all hot button issues for Democrats – but because she supports gun rights, members of her own party have chosen to excoriate her and Gov. David Patterson. Well, so much for being the party of tolerance and inclusion.
“Where does it say that gun owners in New York State should be deprived of a voice in the Senate Democratic Caucus,†Gottlieb wondered. “Gillibrand recently said she believes there can be much common ground between those who protect gun rights and those who believe in gun control. Isn’t that the same thing that the extremists at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence have been claiming? Isn’t that the same philosophy that gun control zealots on Capitol Hill have expressed in the past?
“The difference,†he continued, “is that Gillibrand has a 100-percent rating from the NRA, while too many of her fellow Democrats have made careers out of giving only lip service to the Second Amendment.
“What this controversy really proves,†Gottlieb stated, “is that too many Democrats remain devoted to crushing gun rights, and they will even stoop to attacking and demonizing a rising star of their own party to further their agenda. This is not the party of ‘change’ that so many Americans supported in November. It is apparently a party of narrow views with no tolerance for different opinions, especially if those opinions support the rights of millions of law-abiding American firearms owners.â€