By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
He’s running for federal office this year, Save Jerseyans, but Philadelphia Eagle-turned-media personality Garry Cobb took his CD1 GOP campaign to the New Jersey State House on Monday to speak out against gun control legislation designed to limit magazine capacity to 10 rounds.
An added bonus? The presumptive CD1 Democrat nominee, Donald Norcross, is the committee’s chairman, affording the front runner candidates a rare opportunity to stare each other down outside of the parameters of a debate or chance fairground meeting…
Here’s the text of Cobb’s testimony:
We need to start treating the causes of violent crime in our communities in a manner that will have real impact rather than simply allow politicians to claim they have “done something” about the issue.
Law abiding citizens will continue to abide by the law, while the legislation moved forward today will not deter a single criminal who is going to commit a crime with a gun.
Here is the testimony I gave today before the State Senate committee:
Thank you. I have two points to make.
The first is that I don’t think cutting a magazine clip from 15 to 10 bullets is really going to do a thing about the violence in our society — which has become an almost routine thing. Our children see thousands of simulated murders every year. The recent run of “knock-out” crimes and we see violence treated as an amusement.More than a decade ago, President Bill Clinton called out the entertainment industry for targeting its violent products to children. He cited a Federal Trade Commission study that accused entertainment companies of engaging in marketing violence to children and children’s health professionals who likened Hollywood to the tobacco industry.
Garry Cobb NJ Senate 2A TestimonyI know there are those out there who try to belittle any attempt to resume the conversation that President Bill Clinton started. They say that a firearm is more dangerous than a violent video game. They have a point, but that doesn’t change the fact that corporations are getting rich off of marketing the equivalents of how-to videos to children and the results are all around us.
The second is that the bills you are voting on will not prevent the next act of violence against school children. The magazines used in the Sandy Hook shooting in December 2012 have been illegal in New Jersey for many years. The killer of those children broke a host of laws — including murder — before arriving at the school to commit mass murder. We can pass laws to outlaw 15-rounds magazines — or indeed outlaw firearms all together — but these will be obeyed just as well as the ban on illegal narcotics is obeyed.
Let’s not take away the protection a single mom has from home invasion. Let’s not take away the right of self-defense for working class people who cannot afford the heavily armed protection of a billionaire like Michael Bloomberg. According to the U. S. Department of Justice in 43% of the cases of violent assaults and 42% of robberies it took police between 11 minutes and up to an hour to respond. Where can you hide in your home for 11 minutes or more? Maybe the very rich in very big mansions can avoid harm for that long – but what about a single mom in Camden or Newark or Asbury Park or anywhere in the state? She can only really rely on herself to protect her family.
I ask the Committee to consider this before voting. Thank you.
YES, finally a Cong. candidate with balls enough to take on DoubleCross. I met Garry last week, and was surprised how passionate he was about this election. This man is going to take CD-1 back, THANK GOD!
Love it. I’m not in Garry’s district but he will get donations from me.
I would definitely vote for Garry Cobb if I lived in CD1. Heard him being interviewed recently, on Dom Giordano’s show I think, and liked most of what he said.