SAF SAYS SEATTLE POLICE CHIEF SHOULD TAKE CARE OF OWN GUNS BEFORE REGULATING
SOMEONE ELSE'S
For Immediate Release: 12/15/2005
BELLEVUE, WA - Following almost a year of silence on the gun control issue,
Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske recently came back into the spotlight,
supporting yet another piece of gun legislation, while authorities still
haven't found the chief's semiautomatic pistol, stolen from his car in 2004.
During a press conference in Seattle earlier this week, Kerlikowske
observed, "It's important to me to do whatever I can to keep illegal guns
out of our communities."
That remark brought a quick response from Alan Gottlieb, founder of the
Second Amendment Foundation, based in Bellevue.
"If the chief really wants to make a contribution to the effort to keep guns
out of the wrong hands, he shouldn't leave pistols lying around in his
city-owned car while he and his wife are shopping," Gottlieb observed.
"Somewhere out there is a 9mm Glock pistol that belongs in Kerlikowske's
holster or safely stored in his home or office. Wherever it is, you can bet
it doesn't belong there.
"Chief Kerlikowske is pretty quick to support gun laws that ratchet down on
the rights of law-abiding citizens who are more responsible with their guns
than he was with his," Gottlieb stated. "His stolen gun is more of a threat
to the public, and possibly his own officers, than the overwhelming majority
of handguns, rifles and shotguns owned by Washington citizens from Newport
to Neah Bay."
"Anti-gun police administrators haven't had much luck with their own
hardware," Gottlieb noted. "Former Detroit Chief Jerry Oliver was detained
at an airport for having a loaded gun in his carry-on bag in 2003. Remember
when former Madison, Wisconsin Chief Richard Williams stashed his gun in the
oven, and then turned the oven on? And let's not forget a couple of other
thefts of police guns from cars here in Washington State in the past year.
"Chief Kerlikowske is playing the 'Do as I Say, Not as I Do' game with the
rights of Evergreen State gun owners," Gottlieb said. "Before he pushes any
kind of controls on other peoples' guns, he better learn to take better care
of his own."
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nations oldest and
largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group
focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and
possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than
600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better
inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously
funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles;
New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit
against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the
Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.
-END-
SOMEONE ELSE'S
For Immediate Release: 12/15/2005
BELLEVUE, WA - Following almost a year of silence on the gun control issue,
Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske recently came back into the spotlight,
supporting yet another piece of gun legislation, while authorities still
haven't found the chief's semiautomatic pistol, stolen from his car in 2004.
During a press conference in Seattle earlier this week, Kerlikowske
observed, "It's important to me to do whatever I can to keep illegal guns
out of our communities."
That remark brought a quick response from Alan Gottlieb, founder of the
Second Amendment Foundation, based in Bellevue.
"If the chief really wants to make a contribution to the effort to keep guns
out of the wrong hands, he shouldn't leave pistols lying around in his
city-owned car while he and his wife are shopping," Gottlieb observed.
"Somewhere out there is a 9mm Glock pistol that belongs in Kerlikowske's
holster or safely stored in his home or office. Wherever it is, you can bet
it doesn't belong there.
"Chief Kerlikowske is pretty quick to support gun laws that ratchet down on
the rights of law-abiding citizens who are more responsible with their guns
than he was with his," Gottlieb stated. "His stolen gun is more of a threat
to the public, and possibly his own officers, than the overwhelming majority
of handguns, rifles and shotguns owned by Washington citizens from Newport
to Neah Bay."
"Anti-gun police administrators haven't had much luck with their own
hardware," Gottlieb noted. "Former Detroit Chief Jerry Oliver was detained
at an airport for having a loaded gun in his carry-on bag in 2003. Remember
when former Madison, Wisconsin Chief Richard Williams stashed his gun in the
oven, and then turned the oven on? And let's not forget a couple of other
thefts of police guns from cars here in Washington State in the past year.
"Chief Kerlikowske is playing the 'Do as I Say, Not as I Do' game with the
rights of Evergreen State gun owners," Gottlieb said. "Before he pushes any
kind of controls on other peoples' guns, he better learn to take better care
of his own."
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nations oldest and
largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group
focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and
possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than
600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better
inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously
funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles;
New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit
against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the
Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.
-END-
