Alan Gottlieb
By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
Veteran gun rights advocate Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, is cast as the new bogeyman in a fund-raising e-mail circulated by the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility (WAGR), the group pushing for adoption of Initiative 594, an 18-page gun control measure that will be on Washington State’s November ballot.
The WAGR appeal for contributions announced a June “campaign kick-off” for the initiative at a downtown Seattle hotel at noon. No doubt this mid-day gathering will also encourage donations to the effort, which has already raised more than $1.5 million.
The e-mail complained that gun lobbyists “like this guy” – with the words appearing next to an image of Gottlieb – had prevented the initiative, which was presented to the Legislature in January, from becoming law earlier this year. Instead, lawmakers held hearings on the initiative and a competing proposal, Initiative 591, during which gun advocates including Gottlieb and the National Rifle Association’s Brian Judy dismantled I-594, revealing several flaws that could have devastating effects on the rights of Evergreen State gun owners.
WAGR’s e-mail blitz came one day after Gottlieb issued a blistering statement about accused gun trafficker California State Sen. Leland Yee, one of the state’s most vocal gun prohibitionists.
Gottlieb has become a thorn in WAGR’s side, noting that so-called “universal background checks” would not prevent the kinds of crimes that the organization constantly points to as proof that their initiative is necessary for public safety. The mass shootings touted by WAGR have one thing in common: The gunmen all passed background checks, or they stole the guns they used from someone else who did. WAGR has accused gun rights activists of trying to confuse voters.
As authorities prepare their case against Yee’s alleged gun trafficking, Gottlieb declared that the gun control lobby should adopt a new slogan: “Guns for Yee but not for thee.”
Gottlieb is the standard-bearer for Protect Our Gun Rights (POGR), which is backing I-591, the simple measure that prevents government gun confiscation without due process – a’la warrantless post-Hurricane Katrina gun seizures – while protecting the state’s current adherence to the uniform national standard for background checks.
He is taking the WAGR e-mail in stride, asking tongue-in-cheek, “Who is that guy in the bow tie?” The bow tie is a widely-recognized Gottlieb fashion trademark.
The POGR group has raised less than half the money banked by WAGR, which has the support of wealthy Seattle-based elitists and Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
