There were those who said that we were too ambitious, that the gun lobby was too strong, and that our political system would not have the will to take on and win this fight.īut, again, we believed different. We know we can put in place strong and smart gun safety laws that are consistent with the 2nd Amendment and still protect our communities.Īnd, surely, there were those who said we would never get the gun safety bills we supported through the Legislature. We believe – no, we know – that we can take on the epidemic of gun violence and win. And, sadly, it appears six of these mistaken people sit on the United States Supreme Court. There are those who take seriously the words of the satirical website, The Onion, “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens”. There are those who think this is all just the price of living in the United States. among hundreds and hundreds more – roughly two mass shootings every single day since we put forward our plan to help stop gun violence.Īnd, in New Jersey since April 15, 2021, there have been 1,271 total shootings in New Jersey – shootings which have claimed 291 lives and left 1,313 others injured. and just yesterday, Highland Park, Illinois. In the time since, there have been more than 870 mass shootings in America – Oxford, Michigan. On that same day, April 15, 2021, there were four mass-shootings in America, including an incident at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, in which eight people were senselessly murdered by a former coworker. Every life lost to gun violence is one life too many.

We did so because while we had made great progress in becoming one of the nation’s top states for gun safety, we knew there was more to do. And so many more tremendous advocates and voices for gun safety than I can mention without us all roasting under the sun.įourteen months ago, on April 15, 2021, we came together to unveil what we called our Gun Safety 3.0 package of legislation. Īssembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, Senator and former Governor Richard Codey, Senators Joe Cryan and Andrew Zwicker, Assemblyman John McKeon, Assemblywomen Annette Quijano, Verlina Reynolds Jackson, and Sadaf Jaffer. State Police Superintendent Colonel Pat Callahan. With me are Acting Attorney General Matt Platkin. Thank you, Mayor Jonathan Busch, for welcoming us to Metuchen and kicking things off for us.

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