20 Gun Control Measures Headed to the General Assembly Floor with Muted GOP Opposition
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Twenty (20) new gun control measures made it through the Assembly’s Law & Public Safety Committee this afternoon, Save Jerseyans, all despite the spirited protests of hundreds of Second Amendment advocates who descended on the State House in force.
The most controversial? A-3664, a bill reducing maximum magazine capacity from 15 rounds to 10.
Republican committee members voted against most of the measures.
Assemblyman Sean Kean (R-Monmouth) was the exception; he supported several of the bills and did his best to claim the “common-sense” mantle in his post-hearing statement:
Assembly Republicans voted today for several common-sense gun safety measures that should make New Jersey a safer place for our families. We also support Governor Christie’s NJ SAFE task force and a comprehensive study of mental health and the impact of violence in video games, entertainment and the media. We can get beyond political rhetoric, improve gun safety and get at the root causes of these terrible tragedies.”
Assemblyman Erik Peterson (R-Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren) abstained on the terror bill (?); he largely echoed Kean’s attempts to sound post-partisan and exceedingly rational:
Approving pieces of legislation that were written in haste without the benefit of a committee of experts to properly consider of their impact – especially when we’re looking at Constitutional rights – may not help us achieve our goal of a safer New Jersey.”
Don’t say “may not,” guys. Will not.
We already know how this charade ends. Politicians have fodder for their mailers, interest groups applaud “positive action” and… gun violence continues at consistent levels. Ask Chicago residents whether gun control keeps guns out of bad guys’ clutches. Piling more poorly-enforced regulations on top of others won’t make a lick of difference particularly when our society’s real problems are cultural and psychological. But you and I already know this, folks.
Electing new representatives who also get it is our only recourse moving forward from today’s sham hearing.
