How low can they go?

[Panther]

Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Says Groups Conspiring To Dupe Americans With Lennon Tribute Concert
U.S.Newswire, 10/2/2001 16:10
To: National Desk

Contact: Alan Gottlieb of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, 425-454-4911;

Web site: www.ccrkba.org

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms:

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) today condemned three gun control organizations for attempting to dupe Americans into financially supporting their cause by contributing to a benefit concert airing Oct. 2 on TNT.

Americans who contribute to the John Lennon Tribute benefit concert in the belief they are supporting relief organizations that responded to the World Trade Center Attack could find their donations going instead to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Million Mom March and Violence Policy Center.

The concert, initially set for Sept. 20, was re-scheduled for broadcast tonight on TNT. Originally intended to benefit the three anti-gun groups, the scope was expanded to include the American Red Cross, International Association of Fire Fighters, September 11th Fund, New York Fraternal Order of Police WTC Fund, National Organization for Victim Assistance and the Twin Towers Fund. Now, according to a Brady Center press release ''a portion'' of the proceeds will be divided among those organizations. Exactly what percentage was not disclosed.

''This is an outrage,'' declared CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. ''The gun control crowd has crawled to a new low, and now hopes to exploit this national tragedy to rake in money to help bankroll their political agenda. Don't these people have any shame?''

Gottlieb hailed the heroic efforts of Red Cross volunteers, police and firefighters, and rescue workers who traveled immediately to New York following the vicious terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. He urged all Americans to be as generous as possible with their contributions to the actual relief effort.

''American are generous, compassionate people,'' Gottlieb stated. ''We were all attacked Sept. 11, not only in New York City and at the Pentagon. And now America wants to support those brave men and women who responded to the call, risking, and in some cases, losing their lives in the process. That the Brady Center and its cohorts would stoop to take advantage of America's generosity by this so-called act of sharing the stage with relief organizations is a disgrace.''

Gottlieb noted recent disclosures that the Brady Center and Million Moms have fallen on hard financial times because people have learned that gun control is a losing issue.

''This amounts to nothing more than a despicable attempt by the gun control lobby to balance its books,'' Gottlieb charged.

He pointed to a statement on the Brady Center's own Web site promoting this expanded benefit, by Center President Michael D. Barnes, as proof. Said Barnes: ''In the wake of the tragic events last week in New York and Washington, D.C., it has been brought home, for many of us very personally, that every life is important. Not one life should be lost to senseless acts of violence. Now more than ever, we must redouble our efforts to prevent gun violence in America.''

''The attack on Sept. 11 did not involve a single gun,'' Gottlieb replied. ''This was a terrorist act, in which the perpetrators used knives and box cutters to commandeer four commercial airplanes, which they turned into guided missiles. Until now, I had always thought that there existed, in the anti-gun movement, at least some shred of human decency. It is with utter disappointment that I now stand corrected.''

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With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms 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.