By Dave Workman
A national gun rights organization has scolded a federal judge in Seattle for remarking that in his experience, “a gun is an invitation to get into trouble.”
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms took “no issue” with U.S. District Judge James L. Robart’s sentence of 4 ½ years in prison for repeat offender Kenan Dejuan Brown, who was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. During the proceeding, according to a Justice Department release, Judge Robart told Brown—who said he “felt safe” by having a gun—that, “In my experience a gun is an invitation to get into trouble.”
But CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb was alarmed at the judge’s remark.
“We take no issue at all with Judge Robart’s dispatch of a recidivist criminal to prison,” Gottlieb, “but his opinion about gun ownership amounts to a slap in the face for armed private citizens who have successfully defended themselves against criminal attacks because they had a gun. The judge’s comment also seems to minimize the courageous acts of armed citizens who have intervened and stopped mass shootings, saving countless lives in the process.”
The 42-year-old Brown is a Seattle man who was arrested in October 2023 after crashing his car into a tree. When Seattle police arrived, they found the convicted felon in possession of a loaded pistol, with an extended magazine, which was made illegal the previous year by the Washington Legislature.
According to the DOJ release, Brown has prior convictions in King and Kitsap Superior Courts for various domestic violence assaults, violations of court orders, and unlawful possession of a firearm. He has a federal court conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
He pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm on Feb. 14.
As part of his sentencing, Judge Robart ordered Brown to undergo drug and alcohol treatment. He will be on three years of supervised release following his prison term, under conditions of the sentence.
But the judge’s comment about guns brought a rebuke from Gottlieb, who said, “for millions of honest citizens, having a gun in an emergency has gotten them out of trouble and prevented tragedies.”
“The Brown case could just as easily be used as a text book example of the failure of gun control laws, especially the ones in Washington state,” Gottlieb observed. “Brown’s conviction underscores our historically-proven position that restrictive gun laws, like those supported by Democrat Gov. Bob Ferguson, do not prevent criminals from getting guns. Brown had previous convictions for illegal gun possession, and here he was again, armed with a gun that Ferguson and others said their restrictive laws would prevent him from having.
“Judge Robart’s remark was a misstatement,” Gottlieb said, “but it pales in comparison to the repeated falsehoods from anti-gun Democrats whose focus on restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners, while allowing repeat offenders to roam our streets, has eroded public safety for decades.”
