Chris Christie Pressured By Gun Rights Group In Key Primary State

SAYREVILLE, NJ - JULY 08: Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie attends the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund Press Conference at Sayreville Borough Hall on July 8, 2013 in Sayreville, New Jersey. (Photo by Bobby Bank/WireImage)

Huffington Post

A gun-rights group in the bellwether presidential primary state of New Hampshire has warned New Jersey Governor Chris Christie that signing gun control bills passed by his state's Legislature could have consequences if he runs for president in 2016.

The Pro-Gun New Hampshire coalition urged its members this week to call and email Christie to ask him to veto the proposed laws, posing a political dilemma for Christie as he seeks re-election in November in the Democratic-leaning state while also eyeing the national stage.

Christie has a September deadline to sign a number of firearm-related bills seen by their supporters as necessary for tackling gun violence, and the gun rights group is targeting four of those measures.

One bill would ban .50 caliber rifles, another would require police to report lost and stolen firearms to a federal database, a third would create a system for instant background checks during gun purchases and a fourth bill would ban gun sales to anyone on a watch list of militants.

"This is an acid test," said Sam Cohen, executive vice president of Pro-Gun New Hampshire, which describes itself as the state's largest gun rights group.

"If he decides to support these horrible bills, then we in New Hampshire are going to do everything we can to tell our voters not to vote for him in the New Hampshire primary," Cohen said.

What do you think?  Will he succumb to the pressure and threats.  That certainly isn't his persona. He nurtures the public image of a tough guy who dances to his own tune.  Besides, as our commenter Alabaman pointed out the other day, maybe it's about time for a national Republican candidate to come out for reasonable gun control laws.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Governor Christie Has a Plan for Gun Violence

The Herald

Gov. Chris Christie on Friday unveiled a multi-faceted plan to curb gun violence in New Jersey that includes expanding government-funded mental health treatment, requiring parental sign-off before children can buy or rent violent video games, and mandating that ID presented by would-be gun-owners is government-issued.

The Republican's plan also includes a ban on the sale of Barrett .50-caliber semi-automatic sniper rifles, bail reforms that would make it harder for people suspected of violent gun crimes to be released, and provisions to make it easier for courts and health care professionals to involuntarily commit people they consider violent to a psychiatric hospital.

The plan does not address classroom security or propose stricter limits on the capacity of ammunition magazines, which in New Jersey stands at 15 rounds. 

I like it.  What do you think?

Chris Christie on Obama's Response to the Storm

Christie on Non-Violent Drug Offenders

Christie and Ailes Not-so-strange Bedfellows

via Gawker from Norwegianity who questioned how this could not be illegal.

The office of Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is claiming that Fox News chairman Roger Ailes is a confidential adviser whose interactions with the governor should remain secret under New Jersey's executive privilege.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

NJ Gov. Chris Christie

They liked this over at Patterico's. I kinda liked it too. How about you?

New Jersey's New Governor

The Brady Blog posted an analysis of the election results as they should affect gun control issues.

...while Brady-endorsed Jon Corzine lost his bid for re-election as New Jersey governor to gun control supporter Chris Christie.

This link goes to a wonderful interview of the then hopeful governor Chris Christie by Sean Hannity for Fox News.

HANNITY: Are there any issues where you are, quote, moderate to left as a Republican?

CHRISTIE: Listen, I favor some of the gun-control measures we have in New Jersey.

HANNITY: Bad idea.

CHRISTIE: Listen, we have a densely-populated state, and there's a big hand gun problem in New Jersey. Now, I don't support all the things that the governor supports by a long stretch. But I think on guns — certain gun control issues, looking at it from a law-enforcement perspective, seeing how many police officers were killed, we have an illegal gun problem in New Jersey.

HANNITY: Should every — should every citizen in the state be allowed to get a licensed weapon if they want one?

CHRISTIE: In New Jersey, that's not going to happen, Sean.

HANNITY: Why?

CHRISTIE: Listen, the Democratic legislature we have, there's no way those type of things — listen, at the end of the day, what I support are common sense laws that will allow people to protect themselves, but I also am very concerned about the safety of our police officers on the streets, very concerned. And I want to make sure that we don't have an abundance of guns out there.

But listen, the issues in this race are taxes and jobs and spending.

I find it interesting that he feels an "abundance of guns out there" is a problem for the police. That's just the opposite of the pro-gun position, isn't it?

What's your opinion? Are things going to change in New Jersey now as far as gun control goes? It doesn't sound like it to me.

Please leave a comment.