Daily Beast: Christie Has
Moderate History on Gun Control
Thursday, 10 Jul 2014 01:34 PM
By Sandy Fitzgerald
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
was lauded by conservatives after his July 2 veto of a gun control bill to cap
magazine rounds but in the past, the Republican held a moderate stance when it
comes to gun rights over the years, The Daily Beast reported.
Christie's move to veto the bill, despite
the pleas of two parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown,
Connecticut, came days before Christie
heads to Nashville, Tennessee, this week for the annual
Republican Governor's Association convention, The Daily Beast
said.
The move could give Christie, who serves
as the association's chairman, some extra credibility among conservatives.
However, his record on guns, which includes a push to ban assault weapons,
tells critics something different.
"Most people in the Second Amendment
arena don’t believe him, because he’s been on both sides of the issue," a
former Christie running mate, Richard Merkt, told The Daily Beast. "I
think, in his core belief system, he is not a supporter of the Second
Amendment. Anything he says in favor of the Second Amendment or in favor of a
Second Amendment issue may not sound like it really comes from the heart, because
I don’t think it does."
Christie, explaining his decision to veto
the bill, called the measure "reform in name only" that would not
stop future incidents of mass violence, and said he would not support
"such a trivial approach to the sanctity of human life."
Kevin Roberts, his spokesman, told The
Daily Beast that Christie "believes and has consistently stated that we
must act to prevent the types of horrible tragedies suffered by having
effective gun control laws in place while addressing the underlying causes of
violence."
Christie is also under fire for not
meeting with Mark Darden and Nicole Hockley, whose children were killed by Adam
Lanza at Sandy Hook. The two were in Trenton to speak in favor
of the bill, which would have lowered the cap on magazine rounds from 15 rounds
to 10. They brought signatures from people around the country, and were told
that he was not available to meet with them when they dropped off the
petitions.
A Christie source told The Daily Beast he
was not in the State House when the pair asked for a meeting. However, later he
said he didn't meet with them because he'd already vetoed the bill.
The parents called his refusal "a
cowardly political move" and called the veto a "blow to the memories
of our children," according to The Daily Beast.
Christie ran his first two campaigns on
supporting the state's assault weapons ban, which has been in place since 1990.
In April 1993, when he announced he was running for the State Senate, he told
spoke out against repealing the ban, saying "in today’s society no one
needs a semiautomatic assault weapon...We already have too many firearms in our
communities."
In 1995, when Christie ran for the State
Assembly, he and Merkt sent out fliers attacking opponents and calling
repealing the ban "crazy" and "radical."
"He was basically kind of mocking the
Second Amendment people," Merkt told The Daily Beast. "I think he
thought the Second Amendment issue was kind of a joke, and was not
significant."
Once Christie became governor, he said he would
strictly enforce the state's gun laws. calling them "some of the most
aggressive in the country."
His public efforts included slamming what
he called a "reprehensible" ad in 2013, in which the National Rifle
Association featured President Barack Obama's teenaged daughters.
"Don’t be dragging people’s children
into this, he said. "It’s wrong and I think it demeans [the NRA] and makes
them less of a valid trusted source of information on the real issues that
confront this debate."
Merkt said that he is now a gun-rights
advocate, but he thinks Christie says "whatever he thinks is necessary and
expedient at the time, depending on the audience that he's addressing. And
right now, he knows that he has to try to resuscitate his appeal to the conservative
base of the party."
Chris Christie
NRA-ILA (Chris Christie’s Gun
Control History)
Note: Christopher
J. Christie is the New Jersey state
government governor, married to Mary Pat Christie,
a potential presidential candidate for the 2016 presidential election,
and Stanley F. Druckenmiller, David H. Koch & Henry A. Kissinger
were his supporters for the 2012 presidential bid.
Mary
Pat Christie is married to Christopher J. Christie,
and the chair for the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey
Relief Fund.
Hurricane
Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund is a relief organization for Hurricane Sandy.
Robin
Hood Foundation raised money for the Hurricane Sandy relief.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Robin Hood
Foundation, the Harlem Children's Zone,
and the Aspen Institute (think tank),
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society, a benefactor for the Harlem
Children's Zone, and is the founder of the Soros Fund
Management.
Stanley
F. Druckenmiller is the chairman & benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, was a managing director for the Soros Fund Management, supported Christopher
J. Christie’s 2012 presidential bid, and a major contributor for Draft Bloomberg for president effort (2008).
Michael
R. Bloomberg was a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone,
a donor for the Robin Hood Foundation, the New York (NY) mayor, is a co-chair for Mayors
Against Illegal Guns, the founder of Everytown
for Gun Safety, and a friend of Henry A. Kissinger.
NRA-ILA (Michael Bloomberg’s Gun
Control History)
David H.
Koch is a trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank), and supported Christopher J. Christie’s
2012 presidential bid.
Henry A. Kissinger
was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank), supported Christopher J. Christie’s
2012 presidential bid, is a friend of Michael R. Bloomberg,
a member of the Bohemian Club, a director at the
American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think
tank).
Christopher
Buckley is a member of the Bohemian Club,
and was a blogger for the Daily Beast.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and the American Constitution
Society.
George Soros
is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Rumor Control: The Truth About
Cerberus/Freedom Group
An old rumor has once again resurfaced
alleging that Cerberus--the private equity firm that owns Freedom group,
a holding company that in turn owns a number of firearms manufacturers,
including Remington, Marlin, Bushmaster, and DPMS--is in some way tied to George Soros.
Michael
P.C. Carns was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), and is a director at the Freedom
Group.
Freedom
Group is owned by Cerberus Capital
Management L.P.
Stephen
A. Feinberg is the CEO for Cerberus Capital
Management L.P., his father is Martin Feinberg,
and a trustee at the Public Theater.
Martin
Feinberg is Stephen A. Feinberg’s father, and
a Newtown (CT) resident.
Newtown
(CT) is the location of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
2012
massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a mass
shootings 28 killed, including gunman.
Faith
Elizabeth Gay is a trustee at the Public Theater,
a director at the American Constitution
Society, and was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP.
Eric H.
Holder Jr. was a board member for the American Constitution
Society, and is the attorney general at the U.S.
Department of Justice for the Barack Obama
administration.
Barack Obama
is the president for the Barack Obama
administration, and was an intern at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama is the first lady for the Barack Obama administration,
a friend of Valerie B. Jarrett, was a lawyer
at Sidley Austin LLP, and a staffer for Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Newton N.
Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
R. Eden
Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Rahm I.
Emanuel is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
the Chicago (IL) mayor, and was the White
House chief of staff for the Barack Obama
administration.
NRA-ILA (Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Gun
Control History)
Richard
M. Daley is William M. Daley’s brother, a
member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, was
the Chicago (IL) mayor, Michelle Obama was his staffer, and Valerie B.
Jarrett was his deputy chief of staff.
NRA-ILA (Mayor Richard M. Daley’s
Gun Control History)
Valerie
B. Jarrett was Mayor Richard M. Daley’s
deputy chief of staff, is a friend of Michelle Obama,
a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the
senior adviser for the Barack Obama
administration.
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