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CONCORD, NH — Chris Christie claimed in New Hampshire this week that he doesn’t have a better answer to “fundamentally stand behind” when it comes to protecting Granite Staters from gun violence. However, his record of opposing gun safety legislation in the wake of horrific mass shootings says otherwise — and we have the receipts.
SHOT: On Tuesday in New Hampshire, Christie claimed he doesn’t have a better answer to address the issue of gun violence.
NBC News: “Christie said the gun issue is the ‘“hardest issue that we have to solve in this country. The hardest. And I wish I had a better answer that I could principally and fundamentally stand behind, and I gave you the best one I have.’”
CHASER: Christie has repeatedly opposed common sense gun safety legislation — including in the wake of devastating mass shootings.
Washington Post: “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) late Friday vetoed a bill to ban a powerful model of assault weapon that he initially advocated in the wake of last December’s elementary school shootings in Newtown, Conn. The bill that passed New Jersey’s Democratic legislature would have prohibited the Barrett .50 caliber long-range rifle. Although Christie this spring proposed a ban on future sales of the firearm, he vetoed the ultimate bill because he said it went too far, requiring residents who already own the rifle to give theirs up.”
New York Times: “Families of children killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School lashed out at Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey on Wednesday for vetoing a gun control bill that would have banned the sales of ammunition magazines larger than 10 rounds, after he dismissed it as a ‘trivial approach’ to gun violence and ‘the embodiment of reform in name only.’”
Reuters: “Christie, seen as a potential candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, also conditionally vetoed two other bills designed to curb gun violence, sending them back to the state legislature with language that the Democrat-controlled body was unlikely to accept. The two measures would have created laws requiring law enforcement to report lost and stolen gun data to a federal database, embed information about gun permits onto a driver’s license, create instant background checks and require safety training for gun owners.”
Star-Ledger: “On the heels of the shooting of four U.S. servicemen at a Chattanooga military recruitment center and nine churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., Christie was asked by a questioner at Chapanga's Griddle & Grill for his position on assault weapons. ‘We need an attorney general who's going to understand that we don't need to pass new laws,’ said Christie, ‘We have plenty of laws on the books to stop this.’ … ‘On the issue of assault weapons, here's the problem,’ said Christie. ‘No matter what laws we pass, the folks who commit these crimes are not looking to do a background check at the local gun store to buy their gun. They're buying them from other criminals.’”