Kevin McArdle
New Jersey 101.5
4/19/2013
Gov. Chris Christie unveiled gun control and violence prevention measures that are as comprehensive as they are ambitious.
Christie acknowledges there is no way to prevent all violence in our society, but he says it is the job of government to question, to scrutinize and to demand more in an attempt to address the problem.
The plan calls for expanding New Jersey’s already strict gun control laws, expanding government-funded mental health treatment, making it more difficult for kids buy or rent violent video games, requiring that would-be gun owners show government-issued IDs and bolstering penalties for gun-related crimes.
“It’s hard for me to sit here today and say, ‘If all these things got imposed we’d see an ‘X’ percentage drop in gin violence in this state.’ I don’t know,” said Christie. “Bad people are going to do bad things and so, would greater penalties deter people? You hope they do.”
New Jersey has the second toughest gun laws in the country. The first facet of Christie’s plan seeks to make them even stricter. This includes banning future purchases of the Barrett .50 Caliber; strengthening the state’s existing background check requirement by mandating that mental health records are included in the instant background check process at the time of a firearm purchase; and requiring firearms purchasers to present a valid government photo ID, along with the already mandatory Firearms Purchaser Identification Card…
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