Cowpoke 20
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Monday, August 19, 2013
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie just vetoed part of his own gun-control agenda when he rejected three of the Democrat-controlled Legislature’s bills.
Gov. Christie is running for re-election this year. He used a conditional veto to rewrite the most extreme bills that came out of the Legislature. The key controversial bill would have identified gun owners on a “smart card” such as a driver’s license. There was also a training requirement just to own a firearm and a ban on private exchanges.
The governor also vetoed a bill to ban .50-caliber firearms, which are never used in crimes, even though he called for this same measure earlier this year. The Legislature can accept the rewritten bills or override the veto with a two-thirds majority, or the full veto stands, which is the most likely outcome.
According to the Brady Campaign, New Jersey has the second-most-restrictive gun laws in the country. Just last week, Mr. Christie signed 10 gun-control bills into law. Only one of these may have a positive effect on gun violence by requiring the state to submit mental health records to the FBI for the National Instant Background Checks System. Currently, New Jersey ranks 39th in the country in the number of mental health records the state submits — having sent just 17 records in 2011.
During the legislative process, an official audio recording from a Senate Budget Committee hearing on May 9 was publicized by the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs. On the hot microphone, a woman who sounded like one of the Democratic senators on the committee said, “We needed a bill that was going to confiscate, confiscate, confiscate.” Another woman said: “They don’t care about the bad guys. All they want to do is have their little guns and do whatever they want with them.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie just vetoed part of his own gun-control agenda when he rejected three of the Democrat-controlled Legislature’s bills.
Gov. Christie is running for re-election this year. He used a conditional veto to rewrite the most extreme bills that came out of the Legislature. The key controversial bill would have identified gun owners on a “smart card” such as a driver’s license. There was also a training requirement just to own a firearm and a ban on private exchanges.
The governor also vetoed a bill to ban .50-caliber firearms, which are never used in crimes, even though he called for this same measure earlier this year. The Legislature can accept the rewritten bills or override the veto with a two-thirds majority, or the full veto stands, which is the most likely outcome.
According to the Brady Campaign, New Jersey has the second-most-restrictive gun laws in the country. Just last week, Mr. Christie signed 10 gun-control bills into law. Only one of these may have a positive effect on gun violence by requiring the state to submit mental health records to the FBI for the National Instant Background Checks System. Currently, New Jersey ranks 39th in the country in the number of mental health records the state submits — having sent just 17 records in 2011.
During the legislative process, an official audio recording from a Senate Budget Committee hearing on May 9 was publicized by the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs. On the hot microphone, a woman who sounded like one of the Democratic senators on the committee said, “We needed a bill that was going to confiscate, confiscate, confiscate.” Another woman said: “They don’t care about the bad guys. All they want to do is have their little guns and do whatever they want with them.”