Challenging the “Meeting Parents” Myth

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Governor Chris Christie once again defended his magazine ban veto on Monday, Save Jerseyans, fending off a horde of hungry media ghouls during a campaign swing in Connecticut on behalf of the RGA’s gubernatorial candidate:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYHK1yW0VUc

Can I be brutally frank with you for a moment? As if you expected anything less…

Set aside for a moment the overwhelming mountain of evidence that tells us “gun control” – defined here as limiting the law-abiding citizenry access to certain firearms and magazines – simply does not work. In fact, it makes mass shootings MORE likely to occur

The entire notion of high elected officials having “to meet with” victims’ families has always bothered me. I’ll go a step further: it makes me angry, especially on behalf of the families themselves.

As a gesture of mercy and compassion? With the aim of offering comfort? Sure. That’s a legitimate role for a leader.

But there’s a very good reason why we don’t allow the families of victims to sit in judgment of the accused in our legal system; it’s understandably hard to make a rational decision, tempered by a respect for the rights of bad people which we’re obliged to honor, in the event that your loved one is dead, maimed or seriously wronged in some other way by those bad people! Lawmaking in a constitutional republic is supposed to be a relatively dispassionate affair. Otherwise, the Bill of Rights would evaporate every election cycle as politicians jockey to shuffle their constituent’s rights in order to win votes. That’s not a free and fair system by any cognizable definition.

Besides, the great 18th century British parliamentarian Edmund Burke, a supporter of American independence, once declared that “[y]our representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.” How much better off would we be as a nation if our elected officials understood that quote? Let alone govern by it? Governor Christie’s lengthy, articulate veto message was a consummate piece of top notch leadership.

Victims’ families have every right to be heard. Parading them in large groups in front of hungry cameras like high-value circus curiosities? These meetings hardly look like substantive, sober consultations to me…

That brings us to the added problem of naked exploitation, something that politicians excel at, and the Trenton Democrats have attempted to do it over, and over, and over again here in New Jersey.

There’s no good faith on the pro-gun control side. After all, if the aim wasn’t exploitation, then why did Senate President Steve Sweeney refuse to meet with Newtown parents who were of the opposite opinion? We know what’s going on here. Democrat politicians like Steve only care about “empowering” (read: manipulating) victims’ families whose opinions and impulses fit the party’s narrative. I can guarantee you that the silence from the Left would be deafening if a score of Connecticut youths were killed tomorrow by defective Plan B pills, a fire induced by solar panels, or malnutrition from Michelle Obama’s school lunch initiative. 

So please dn’t get squeamish where your rights are concerned, Save Jerseyans. A gaggle of yuppie mouthbreathers waiving signs and talking out of their rear ends can’t obscure the reality of the situation for those of us who actually pay attention. I applaud Governor Christie for sticking to his guns (pun intended) on this supremely important issue.

 

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8405 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

1 Comment

  1. And likewise: carpetbaggers are NOT WELCOME in NJ.
    I paid for those damn seats in the Statehouse that Whineberg was so willing to give away to people she could exploit.

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