Gun Control Protesters Accuse Rep. Lee Zeldin Of Taking NRA ‘Blood Money’
Rep. Lee Zeldin Image by Wikimedia Commons
By Nathan Guttman February 22, 2018
Accusing him of accepting “blood money” from the National Rifle Association, some 400 activists protested Tuesday outside New York Rep. Lee Zeldin’s office in Patchogue.
The protesters argued that the Long Island Republican, one of only two Jewish Republicans in Congress, is “selling our lives to the NRA.”
Zeldin received nearly $29,000 last year from gun rights groups and has been a staunch supporter of the NRA. He is the co-author of a bill that would allow citizens with concealed carry licenses from one state to carry their arms in every other state.
Following the Parkland, Florida school shooting last week, Zeldin issued a statement pointing to the failure of the FBI in identifying the threat posed by shooter Nikolas Cruz.
“I support law abiding citizens having the ability to possess firearms to protect themselves, their families, their loved ones and property,” Zeldin said. “However, we must ensure lunatics manifesting violent criminal intentions to murder with firearms have access to none.”
Democrats have targeted Zeldin’s seat as one they are hoping to flip in 2018, and the question of gun control is likely to come up in the campaign.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
