CCRKBA Chief Says Bloomberg, Billionaires Trying To Buy Freedom One Right At A Time

BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today's revelation that Michael Bloomberg's "Everytown for Gun Safety" lobbying organization has donated another million dollars to the already-swollen Initiative 594 campaign war chest confirms that a "handful of billionaires" are intent on buying the November election, and along with it, the privacy rights of Washington State citizens, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said.

"It's looking more like 'Every Billionaire for Gun Control' wants to buy this election," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. "Voters should be very concerned when wealthy elitists like Bloomberg believe that their civil rights are for sale.

"If they can buy your gun rights today," he questioned, "what other rights will they go after tomorrow? Maybe your right to drink soda, or decide what you want to eat. Or maybe they will try to buy your right to petition the government, or your freedom to assemble and associate with like-minded friends and neighbors."

Bloomberg is not the only billionaire backing I-594, the 18-page gun control measure on the November ballot. Advertised as a so-called "universal background check" proposal for gun sales, I-594 goes much farther, requiring data collection on all handgun transfers, including loans and gifts to friends, neighbors and in-laws with only a few narrow exceptions for immediate family members.

Even people who have concealed pistol licenses, and have passed background checks, are not exempt from this unworkable measure, nor are police officers and sheriffs' deputies.

"The state's largest and most respected law enforcement organizations, representing more than 7,500 rank-and-file officers, oppose I-594," Gottlieb noted. "The billionaires are trying to drown the opposition with a flood of money. In addition to Bloomberg, billionaires Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Ballmer and Nick Hanauer have invested small fortunes in their juggernaut campaign to buy the election."

"No one elected these people to control your life," Gottlieb warned. "That is especially true with Bloomberg. I'll remind every citizen of the state that you have a vote in this election, and Michael Bloomberg doesn't, because he doesn't live in Washington. He just wants to buy it."

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.

SOURCE Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms