BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Anti-gun New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the wrong man to speak about self-defense in a city that is a virtual victim disarmament zone because of his policies, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

Mayor Bloomberg criticized a reporter during a press conference for asking what he thought about two New York Police patrolmen opening fire on a gunman last week, killing him and wounding several bystanders in the process.

"Let me ask you, Miss," Bloomberg said, "if somebody pointed a gun at you and you had a gun in your pocket, what would you do?"

"There's just one big problem with Bloomberg's remark," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. "In his city, under his Draconian gun regulations, it is nearly impossible for a private citizen to have a gun in his or her pocket for personal protection, and he knows it."

"In other cities, in states where right-to-carry statutes have been adopted, citizens can respond to a life-threatening situation just as the mayor implies," he added. "But in the Big Apple, you're in big trouble if you walk around with a gun in your pocket, unless you happen to be a well-connected elitist who can secure a carry permit."

Noting that armed private citizens are able to defend themselves and others from criminal attack, Gottlieb suggested that Mayor Bloomberg needs to "back up his words with action."

"In a city where officials complain about all the so-called 'illegal guns' being carried by criminals," Gottlieb observed, "a reasonable person might wonder why they don't level the playing field by making it easier for law-abiding citizens to arm themselves against gun-toting thugs."

"Mayor Bloomberg, of course, has his own armed security," Gottlieb concluded. "That's a luxury not enjoyed by his constituents, who don't have the option of carrying a gun in their pocket, purse or even a good holster. For him to intimate otherwise, while badgering a reporter in the process, is disingenuous at best."

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

SOURCE Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms