Armed assailants killed two women near Essex County
College and three Gloucester
Township police officers inside their police station. Newark Mayor Cory Booker
claims that 34 gun murders occur every day in the United States. Crime rates
have climbed in Newark and Trenton, where cities instituted massive police
layoffs. The New Jersey
Legislature wants stricter gun
laws. Gov. Christie wants to expand gun
control. The governor’s support
for gun control is illogical, unsubstantiated, and uninformed.
Washington D.C. had strict gun laws and one of the
highest crime rates in the
country. After the United States Supreme Court struck down the handgun ban,
Washington’s crime rate dropped. The University of Central Florida’s Kleck and Gertz study, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Cato Institute have concluded that gun control does not control gun
violence. Israel and Switzerland have a higher rate of gun ownership, but fewer
deaths.
NRA President Wayne LaPierre correctly argued:
"The only protection against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with
gun." Not gun control but more gun ownership protects our inner city
communities from armed attacks. Removing the "gun free zone"
stipulations from our schools will make them less likely targets for potential
assailants. Enlisting private militias, if necessary, or summoning New Jersey’s
National Guard would protect the state.
I respect Gov. Christie’s stance on fiscal
discipline and other social issues. This country needs to discuss the growing
national trend of gun violence. But Christie is wrong to advocate for gun
control.