In wake of the Orlando massacre where a gunman killed or injured over 100 people in a gay nightclub, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop is calling for “common sense gun reforms.”
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“After this past week of mourning, I want to add my voice to the chorus of those calling for real action from the the members of Congress who refuse to pass much needed gun reform,” Fulop wrote in a mass email.
“Time after time, this has proven to be a fatal mistake on the part of those lawmakers, as we continue to see mass shootings occur in communities throughout our nation.”
During Jersey City’s vigil for the Orlando LGBT community on Tuesday, which had 1,000’s of supporters show up to the Newark Pedestrian Plaza, Fulop said “this country can do better on guns” – a viewpoint he has expressed in the past.
“It is time that common sense gun reforms become a reality in this country, and as we have seen in the past, our voices are stronger when we work together,” the mayor, a long rumored gubernatorial candidate for 2017, continued.
“In partnership with the national gun reform advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, I’m sharing a petition that will ultimately be presented to the United States Congress, calling for sensible gun reform laws that will help prevent these types of tragedies from ever occurring again.”
Fulop concluded by urging readers “to sign on and tell Congress that enough is enough.”
Specifically, the petition calls for making it illegal for people convicted of violent hate crimes to buy or possess guns, making it illegal for suspected terrorists to legally buy guns and requiring a background check for every gun sale, no matter where the gun is purchased – including gun shows.
In a robocall to many New Jersey homes this week, including the home of this reporter, the NRA is calling on “Second Amendment supporters” to call U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-NJ)
“It is critical that Second Amendment supporters contact Senator Robert Menendez at 202-224-4744 and Cory Booker at 202-224-3224 and express their strong opposition to any new gun control laws,” the message says.
“Gun ban groups funded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and anti-gun Senators such as [Chuck] Schumer and [Dianne] Feinstein actively looking to blame you for the recent terrorist attack in Orlando. It’s important that your Senators hear from you today.”
The robocall further states that the White House and the media “are actively campaigning to ban semi-automatic firearms,” which would “deny Second Amendment rights without due process.”
Menendez and Booker joined Democratic Senators in a filibuster on Wednesday in hopes of bringing legislation to the floor that would ban someone on the federal law enforcement’s terrorist watch list from purchasing firearms – legislation supported by President Barack Obama.
The NRA robocall can be heard in its entirety below.
