The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) today chided Wal-Mart for giving into pressure from city officials in New Haven, CT and agreeing to stop the sale of firearms, bowhunting equipment and paintball guns at its store, scheduled to open this month.
“Can this be the same store that Jesse Jackson indignantly smeared the other day as a symbol of the right-wing Confederate movement,” mused CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron. “During that same speech, Jackson attacked conservative Americans for supporting gun rights, accusing gun owners of having ‘a blind obsession with the Second Amendment’.
“It’s widely known, “Waldron said, “that gun rights are sacred in the South, where Wal-Mart is headquartered, so the store managers in New Haven are as wrong about their decision as Jackson is about Wal-Mart, and about the Second Amendment. Jackson needs to be reminded that the right to keep and bear arms is as much an individual civil right as voting or attending the church of your choice.
Waldron was also critical of New Haven Police Chief Francisco Ortiz Jr. for his anti-gun remarks in the Wal-Mart controversy. Chief Ortiz was quoted by Newsday admitting, “As a police chief in an urban center, I’m very concerned about the lawful as well as unlawful possession of firearms in the community.”
In response, Waldron questioned, “Just what is it about the lawful possession of firearms that concerns Chief Ortiz? Is he equating law-abiding citizens in his city with criminals? Does he think of them all the same? Did he just reveal a personal prejudice through a Freudian slip of the tongue? What kind of myopic bigotry is that, especially on the part of a top law enforcement officer?
“Chief Ortiz needs to read the Connecticut Constitution,” Waldron said, “specifically Article 1, Section 15, where it clearly states that every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of himself and the state. Tens of thousands of honest gun owners living in and around New Haven deserve an explanation from the chief, and at the same time they deserve an apology from the city officials that browbeat Wal-Mart management into making this incredibly offensive policy decision.”