BELLEVUE, WA – Changing the name of her anti-gun “Americans for Responsible Solutions” doesn’t change the mission of former Congresswoman Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords’ lobbying group, and it won’t fool anybody, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, announced that their organization will henceforth be known as “Giffords.” But CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb recalled that when Handgun Control, Inc. changed its name to the Brady Campaign several years ago, the group continued to lobby for every restrictive gun control scheme that came along.
“Leopards don’t change their spots and a chameleon that sheds its skin is still a chameleon,” Gottlieb observed. “Changing the name of a gun control group to simply echo your last name smacks of egotistical elitism, and it didn’t work for the Brady Campaign or Sarah Brady, either. They’re still recognized as one of the nation’s extremist gun prohibition lobbying groups.”
Published reports say the “Giffords” group is still lobbying on behalf of gun control efforts. Gottlieb noted that lately the group has been fighting reform legislation that would ease restrictions on noise suppressors for firearms and another bill that would provide national reciprocity for concealed carry permits and licenses.
“While we have great empathy for Gabby Giffords for the trauma she suffered at the hands of a madman, pushing schemes that erode the Second Amendment rights of honest citizens will not prevent the kind of outrage she suffered,” Gottlieb said. “Indeed, the gun control schemes that her group and other anti-gun organizations have promoted have been shown time and again to be incapable of preventing violent crimes, including the Las Vegas attack. Neither the man who attacked her or the maniac in Las Vegas used a suppressor either, but both passed background checks.
“Changing the name of a gun control organization is like putting on a mask for Halloween,” he concluded. “Eventually the mask comes off and you haven’t tricked anybody by treating them like fools.”