Bob Owens notes that the guy’s record on guns isn’t that great. This much is true, but you have to consider what state he’s coming from. Commuting Aitken’s sentence was a remarkable thing for a New Jersey governor to do. Should he earn an NRA endorsement any time soon? No. But so far, even with this one act, he’s been willing to do more for New Jersey gun owners than all the governors for the past half century combined. That’s how bad things are there.
2 thoughts on “Chris Christie Not All That Pro Gun”
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Well, the NRA has endorsed worse…
I partly agree with you; he’s done more to help gun laws in NJ than anyone else. However, he did campaign to the *left* of Corzine, specifically on gun issues.
I think Christie is fine where he is, but he will have to do some serious spinning to go to the national stage.
I need to post a link, but there was a phone interview with Evan Nappen posted by @NRANews in which Nappen says they sought a commutation because it would get him home quickest; a pardon would have required exhausting all appeals. Or words to that effect. Watch my space.
I never try and pretend that Christie is pro-gun in anyplace other than NJ; and as a former prosecutor I didn’t expect him to be – tight gun laws are a tool to use to get criminals to plead out on other charges (which, paradoxically, makes them much harsher on otherwise law-abiding folks who don’t have another charge to plead out to in exchange for dropping the gun charge).
This is a state where the second Van Drew Carry bill is a significant step forward.