O’Donnell to Christie: Is N.J. Gun Death Rate Low Due to the Strict Gun Control Laws?
[excerpt]
O’DONNELL: “New Jersey has one of the lowest rates of gun deaths in the country. Is that because of some of the gun control laws in your state?”
CHRISTIE: “No, that’s because they have a governor who enforces the law and also supports community policing. And you look at crime exploding all over the country, but in Camden, New Jersey, which used to be the most dangerous city in America, we fired the entire police force three years ago, brought in a new police force that’s doing community policing. The murder rate in Camden the last three years is down 61 percent. Because people know two things: that as governor, I’ll do anything I have to do to protect the lives of the people of New Jersey and fight against these criminals, and second that we’re doing things like community policing so that the community and the police force are working together to protect their neighborhoods. That’s the kind of leadership we need in the country, and we don’t have it right now.”
O’DONNELL: “But in the case of this shooter, he didn’t set off any trip wires. He did have this history of complaints against him, of threatening people, but he legally purchased a gun. If you’re president, how do you stop something like that from happening?”
CHRISTIE: “First off, we should do more about mental health in this country. The fact is that we need to have more information about people’s mental health background. But we don’t need new laws in this country to be able to do that—we have laws that exist now. We just need to enforce the ones that we do.”
O’DONNELL: “So you’re saying he should have been profiled -- his mental health history?”
CHRISTIE: “No, what I’m saying -- I don’t know the particulars about him, yet, nor does anybody else. What I’m saying in general, the problem I see as the governor is we’re not focusing enough on mental health. All you’re hearing is, ‘Let’s have new laws,’ when we don’t enforce the laws we have. You know, when I was U.S. Attorney in New Jersey for seven years, we enforced the gun laws against felons who held guns. They’re the ones who are committing most of the violent crime in this country, and yet we want to be calling for more laws. That’s for member of Congress to feel useful. Quite frankly, [that’s not what we need to do].”
