Crowd weighs in on violence in task force’s Camden hearing

One after another, community members and activists walked to the microphones to speak to the panel responsible for advising Gov. Christie's "violence control" policies.

Dozens of people turned out for a public hearing of the NJ SAFE Task Force on Tuesday night at Rutgers-Camden. With state police and college security standing guard, they largely agreed on the constitutionality of gun ownership, the necessity for addressing violence, and increasing mental-health resources.

On whether to institute stricter gun controls - particularly limits on access to some types of weapons or high-capacity magazine rounds - there was no strong consensus. But most speakers concurred on one point: New laws alone will not solve the problem of violent crime.

"All I know is that there [have been] over 40 bills introduced" recently in the state Senate and Assembly, William E. Mokoid, 64, of Pennsville, said after the hearing. "We're operating under certain laws currently, and until somebody has shown that the law is deficient, why would you want to change it?"

The first step is to properly enforce those laws, said Mokoid, who said he decided to become a first-time gun owner this year in "a political statement that the Second Amendment needs protecting."

"Please, enforce the current laws," Mokoid told the group. "Let's not go as far as gun control."

Stacie and Darrell Moore of East Camden agreed with the need for social reforms but said gun control needed to remain a focus.

"I think it's really delusional for people to think that guns aren't the issue," Stacie Moore said after the hearing. She used the example of her 20-year-old daughter, who was sitting in a car with five others when an unknown gunman shot and killed two of her friends.

If that assailant had only a knife, she said, he would not have been able to do such damage.

The mother of three, a lifelong Camden resident, had lined up to speak when the hearing, scheduled to end at 8 p.m., was still going strong at 8:10. About 20 people waited at the two microphones to be heard before the session ended around 8:40.

Christie established the task force last month to advise him on "violence control" after the Newtown, Conn., school shootings. Tuesday's hearing was the first of three to gather public comment on guns, mental health, drug addiction, levels of violence in society, and school safety. The two other hearings this week will be in Essex County.

A school superintendent, a mental-health expert, and two leaders of substance-abuse centers make up the SAFE Task Force, led by two former New Jersey state attorneys general, a Republican and a Democrat.

Christie has said he is waiting for the task force's report, due within 60 days, before he comments on the national debate on such issues as a federal ban on assault weapons.

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D., Essex) criticized the governor when the task force was announced. "We do not need more talk," she said. "We need action." Oliver's office did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

The crowd Tuesday night wanted to talk. Veterans, teachers, leaders of religious and social organizations: The running theme was not direct gun control, but addressing violent crime through economic development in Camden, and social issues such as school reform and mental-health resources. Many described a lack of jobs in Camden, a flourishing drug trade, and gang violence.

Camden, the site of Tuesday's hearing, has endured years of gun violence. Most of the city's record 67 homicides in 2012 were committed with guns. The city received a record 1,137 firearms in a two-day gun buyback program that began the day of the Newtown shooting.