NRA official in New Jersey rebuked after linking Holocaust to gun control

The Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday condemned a National Rifle Association board member for invoking the Holocaust to criticize a political opponent.

Speaking to NRA News last week, Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs executive director Scott Bach criticized Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop for requiring gun-makers to complete a questionnaire about their positions on gun safety issues.

"And here is the interesting thing about this guy," Bach said. "He's an ex-Marine. Well, what I should say is, he worked for Goldman Sachs in the financial industry and was close to 9-11 when it happened and he was motivated to join the Marines for a few years, which he did. His grandparents were Holocaust survivors according to Wikipedia. So you've got to wonder why he is not getting it."

The Anti-Defamation League said comparisons between gun control legislation in the United States and policies in Nazi Germany were deeply concerning.

"No matter how strong one’s objections are to a policy, or how committed an organization is to its mission, invoking the Holocaust to score political points is offensive and has no place in civil discourse," Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director and a Holocaust survivor, said in a statement.

"It is especially disturbing that in the debate over gun control in America, Holocaust analogies and references to Nazi Germany flow so freely off the lips of critics of gun control. There is absolutely no comparison of the issue of gun control in the U.S. to the genocidal actions of the Nazi regime."

Watch video of the NRA News segment below.

[Man holding rifle via Shutterstock]