Too soon to talk about gun laws, Christie says
Gov. Christie accused unnamed politicians this morning of inappropriately "grandstanding" for stricter gun laws in the wake of the shootings over the weekend at a Colorado movie theater.
Too soon to talk about gun laws, Christie says
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
Gov. Christie accused unnamed politicians this morning of inappropriately "grandstanding" for stricter gun laws in the wake of the shootings over the weekend at a Colorado movie theater.
"I'm not going to get into the gun control discussion while these people are waiting to get buried," Christie said after being asked about the incident three times in a morning news conference. "It might not offend you or bother you, but it offends me and bothers me."
Christie did offer a brief opinion: He said he agrees with the stance of President Obama, who has called for enforcing existing gun laws instead of proposing new gun control legislation.
But Christie added that he was "disturbed" by politicians' recent comments on gun laws. He didn't mention names, but yesterday New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hammered Obama and Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney for not talking about the need to control the pervasiveness of guns in America.
In addition, Christie nemesis Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) and up-for-reelection Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J) have renewed their calls for stronger gun laws in recent days.
One reporter pushed Christie on why it's not relevant to talk about gun control in the wake of a gun-related massacre.
"People were just killed over the weekend," Christie said. "Can we take a deep breath before the politicians start sending out press releases? Can we allow the people to be mourned appropriately by their families?....There's plenty of time to talk about those issues in a time that's less heated and less emotional."
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What cowards are politicians are!! Are you listening, Chris Christie? You are scared to death of the NRA, while innocent people are being shot to death. You aren't much of a bully when it comes to moving against the NRA, because they are bigger than you are!— buckigirl- buckgirl, you are speaking truth.... christie like too many of these useless politicians are the slavedogs of the nra and other cowards who hide behind the right to bear arms....they don't care about human life just insane and inhumane laws, or the lack of sane and humane laws.... they are the true traitors of this nation
- Judging from his gut it's too soon for Christie to talk about portion control too
- @buckgirl - Stop your whining. Had liberals not instilled fear into Americans about defending themselves and others, one armed citizen in that movie theater would have been able to stop the massacre before it got started. Why are liberals so quick to try to steal the rights and liberties of the 99.99999999% of law abiding Americans and expose them to the criminal element and a corrupt Govt???— Citizenc92
- Yes, you're right...that of Holmes. Thanks for making my argument for me. American's have become cowards. They let Bankers run amuk with no consequence. They let politicians run rampant representing their parties rather than their constituents. They give away their rights in the "hopes" that their's no boogeyman. Americans wont even defend themselves or others anymore. Good thing there's a military or America would lose a war to the likes of Switzerland these days.
- BTW. Norway has some of the most strick gun laws in Europe and those laws did NOTHING to protect 70 innocent civilians from Brievik's massacre. Moreover, Holmes had massive amounts of explosives despite laws against them. YOU CANNOT LEGISLATE ABSOLUTE PROTECTION FROM ALL THE DEMONS IN THE WORLD...the only thing you can do is ensure laws are in place to allow you to protect yourself.— Citizenc92
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- Right...and the -/+ 28 million people in Norway compare to the 300 million that live here. Manipulate the story all you want.
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- Absolutly. Further, if liberals hadn't eroded the very moral fiber of being American; self reliant and sovereign there would be far less crime of any nature. Remember it was liberals that expanded drug use. It was liberals whom expanded Government to create a society dependant on it. It was liberals whom championed the expansion of the Central Bankers whom in turn, expanded the big publically traded companies.
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- You might want to take a look at history and see how the norm in the past was good moral character, trusting the law abiding people of good character, and allowing the law abiding good people to be armed anywhere and everywhere. Crime was a lot lower then and criminals who did ply their trade and caught were either shot on the spot, hanged, or locked up instead of given probation, short sentences, second chances to create more victims... Just to name a little of that past moral fiber.... You also might want to look up the word "criminal" and familiarize yourself with exactly who is affected by the laws and who isn't. Do you think more gun control will affect criminals who already don't follow the law or that more laws will magically make the millions of already illegally possessed guns disappear? — 123Go
- Ummmm, this seems to me to be the most appropriate time to discuss gun laws. Do we really need the general public having access to combat weapons?— 1972bline
Reach him at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattkatz00. Reach Matt at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
