BELLEVUE, WA – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Friday warning that there could be riots in the streets if something isn’t done quickly to produce jobs and get the economy moving leaves an important question: How do people defend themselves under the city’s current restrictive gun laws?

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today called on Bloomberg to answer that question. CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb noted that the mayor’s alarmist rhetoric spotlight’s the need for gun law reform in New York so that law-abiding citizens can better defend themselves in the event of anarchy.

“Mayor Bloomberg is long on warnings,” Gottlieb observed, “whether it’s about violence in the streets due to expanded concealed carry laws, increase gun ownership by law-abiding citizens, or a bleak economy for which he has offered no solutions, but expects big government to solve.

“Unfortunately,” he continued, “Mayor Bloomberg’s solutions to violent crime are typically counter to common sense, so we shouldn’t expect too much in the way of economic wisdom, either. He would keep law-abiding citizens disarmed to prevent crime, so his response to rioting would probably be to arrest people who defend their homes and businesses.

“Bloomberg’s policies,” Gottlieb said, “penalize the wrong people and he knows it. He founded ‘Mayors Against Illegal Guns’ but has pushed policies that make it harder, if not impossible, for citizens to legally obtain firearms. He would drown people in paperwork for simply seeking the means to defend themselves against this predicted chaos.

“Michael Bloomberg cannot have it both ways,” Gottlieb concluded. “If urban riots do erupt and innocent people are harmed, or lose their businesses and homes to rioters, he must accept part of the blame. His policies do not prevent victimization, they perpetuate it, and fomenting hysteria over the economy doesn’t help.”