BELLEVUE, WA – For the second time in two years, the failure of Wisconsin’s State Assembly to override anti-gun Gov. Jim Doyle’s veto of crucial personal protection legislation proves that Democrats are “all talk and no walk” on the issue of firearms rights and the safety of their constituents, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said this afternoon.
“For all their lip service about supporting the gun rights of Wisconsin citizens,” said CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron, “this vote once again demonstrates that Democrats cannot be trusted. When Democrats hit the campaign trail this fall, gun owners will be reminded that their rhetoric is empty, and that when they had the chance to do the right thing, they failed. Gov. Doyle may engage in political chest thumping and call this a victory, but in reality, it’s a victory for criminals, who will have a risk-free working environment.”
CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb called the vote “deplorable” and criticized Wisconsin’s Democrats for succumbing to anti-gun hysteria. The ultimate losers are the law-abiding citizens who are once again left with the knowledge that not only Gov. Doyle, but Democrats in the Legislature do not care about their safety or their right of self-defense, he said. Gottlieb was particularly critical of Assembly members John Steinbrink and Terry Van Akkeren, who were considered key override votes, but succumbed to partisan politics.
“We want these two lawmakers, and Gov. Doyle, to know that every time a woman is raped by a stalker or assaulted or murdered by an ex-boyfriend, their blood will be on your hands,” Gottlieb stated. “Every time a shopkeeper is robbed, every time a motorist is the victim of a carjacking, every time a law-abiding citizen is victimized when he or she would have been able to fight back, that crime is as much your responsibility as that of the perpetrator, because you let it happen.
“The Wisconsin vote,” Gottlieb said, “is symbolic of how Democrats across the nation will say one thing and do another when it comes to gun rights and personal protection. They are the party of victim disarmament, no matter what they say when they want your vote. Once again in Wisconsin, they have put political ideology ahead of public safety, and the criminals win while citizens lose.”