New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's Gun Double-Bind - Granite Grok

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s Gun Double-Bind

“Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed.”  —Mark Twain

  Christie-ObamaNew Jersey has some of the toughest gun laws in America. Citizens in New Jersey are virtually unarmed. Issuance of licenses or permits to carry a pistol concealed are the exception, not the rule. In order to do so, one must have a compelling reason to do so.

Jonathan  Wheeler and George Daudelin, both  retirees from the Newark Fire Department’s Arson Investigation Unit applied to the New Jersey State Police for a special permit authorizing them to carry handguns. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:3 a special permit authorizing certain retired law enforcement officers to carry handguns may be issued to those who, “served in an enumerated law enforcement agency or served with an agency in another state and are qualified retired law enforcement officers, as defined in the federal ‘Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004…” Both were denied and the appeal to the Superior Court of New Jersey appellate division  followed. The case was argued on March 30, 2013 and a decision issued December 30, 2013…Nine months later.

Governor Chris Christie has never taken a strong position in favor of the citizens’ second Amendment rights.  In fact, Christie has stated in the past that he supports New Jersey’s tough gun laws. In fact, Christie has downright ducked the issue during his tenure as the Garden State Governor.

When the aforementioned case went before the appellate division, Christie’s administration declined to defend the state’s laws.  The decision was of no consequence to the status quo of New Jersey’s arbitrary and draconian gun laws because the very liberal court upheld the denial decision.

In its ruling, the court found that New Jersey has a “well-established record” of policing firearms and can place strict requirements on people seeking permits to carry concealed handguns. It is common knowledge that permits are tenuous to obtain and are rarely issued.  Frequently, agencies simply ignore the application.

Legal experts weighed in and many stated they could not recall any time in the past when a governor chose not to defend New Jersey’s gun control laws. But that is exactly what Christie did.

“The New Jersey Attorney General did participate in the original case in trial court  but, “declined to participate here,” wrote Judge Jane Grall on behalf of the three-judge panel. “This matter implicates criminal laws, involves a determination of the (trial court) and presents constitutional challenges to state statutes. The attorney general is the state’s chief law enforcement officer; the head of the Department of Law and Public Safety … and is entitled to defend a challenge to a statute,” Grall continued.

Neither Christie’s office nor the Attorney General’s office responded to media requests for comment this past Monday.

That is where the silliness began. Democrats and gun control advocates leveled criticism at Christie for his dereliction in defending, “public safety laws…” Erstwhile,  the desperate Jersey Shores gun rights activists and New Jersey Republicans “praised” Christie for, “taking a stand for gun rights.”

Leftist Kool-Aid Drinker Bryan Miller, executive director for Heeding God’s Call, characterized Christie’s absence in the case as a means to bolster his GOP presidential nominee aspirations in 2016.  Miller carped, “It is unconscionable that the governor of the state of New Jersey would fail to actively defend life-saving laws that are in fact amazingly popular in the state.”

And how about those New Jersey Republicans and gun advocates “praising Christie for taking a stand for gun rights?” Yet in April of last year it was Christie who unveiled ten broad and sweeping gun control measures that further expanded the restrictions the Garden State already has.  Gun groups in New Jersey refuse to call Christie out and instead cow-tow to him.

There is one common theme here…The anti-gun contingent and the so-called pro-gun contingent are both drinking from the same Grape Kool-Aid pitcher.  Executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs,Scott Bach  joined the NRA’s “Cam & Co.” show in May and ran away from criticizing Christie for signing the gun control measures.

There is one aspect that rings clear and that the left and the right agree on here: Christie’s failure to defend this action is more about making in-roads to in order to be a more viable GOP nominee in 2016. But both are wrong in their reasoning.

From the left wing anti-gun pablum pukers the logic goes, “The governor is far more interested in making the right wing of the national Republican Party happy than he is in protecting the safety of New Jersey’s homes, schools and communities.” what the left does not contemplate is that even the moderate factions of the GOP understand that a vote for gun control is an election loser. Here they are complaining about Christie’s absence from participation in this court case and  yet, they won.

Finally there is New Jersey’s wimpy and tepid pro-gun advocates who view this absence as a solid statement in support of the second amendment. I would just ask them to juxtapose that with Christie’s track record on the second amendment. Silence is NOT advocacy. Passivity cannot be confused with proactivity and action. Christie is a guy endorsed by mayor Michael Bloomberg on guns.

Chris Christie will make a gross miscalculation listening to his current gaggle of handlers and advisors and he will not be the nominee. If he evolves like the Manchurian candidate Obama manifested to be, then he will lose. Christie’s circle of friends and whisperers don’t talk to middle class America. Oh, the image that they do is there, but that is the Potemkin village we all see.  If Christie believes his passivity and inaction in cases like this will count as a proactive move toward the political gravitas needed to garner a GOP presidential nomination in 2016. I think he is sadly mistaken.

Even the smarmy, moderate, blue blood, Rockefellar-esque, establishment Republicans know that even being suggested as a candidate soft on the second amendment is an election-loser. While moderates continue to argue that Christie is the guy, he will never get past the pro-second Amendment constituency because the Second Amendment is more than just being about guns: the Second Amendment is the keystone of liberty and a check on the government. We will be effectively able to track him as he moves to his own aspirations because I predict he will stay in Moderate RINO circles and keep away from the Pro-second amendment circles, not wasting time courting them.

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