Payne on recent cop killings: ‘My worst nightmare has come to fruition’

U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. said “my worst nightmare has come to fruition” when discussing recent cop killings and gun control during an interview with Hudson County View yesterday.

[fve]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEffZLO5_Wo&feature=youtu.be[/fve]

“We’re going to continue to fight for common sense gun reform. It is still amazing that the Republican majority [in Congress] still does not feel that there is an issue around ‘No Fly, No Buy,’ I mean just very common sense things,” Payne said at a ribbon cutting event in Jersey City yesterday.

“If you’re on the terrorist watch list, why should we be able to allow you to purchase a gun? I mean that’s just common sense. Close the loopholes at gun shows, buy and sell guns, and there’s really no follow-up on where these guns go.”

Payne continued that these guns “end up in the streets of Jersey City and Newark and our children are dying,” later adding that “the Second Amendment will be in place as long as this country is around.”

The Newark-born Congressman was one of many federal officials on hand as the Historic Essex County Courthouse in Newark last month rallying for “common sense gun reforms.”

“We do not need assault weapons on the streets of our cities. No resident, no American that is not in law enforcement should have the availability to own an AR-15 or any type of assault weapon because my worst nightmare has been realized,” Payne further explained.

“When I talked to law enforcement, I always talked to them about these guns ending up being used on them. And we see what has happened in Dallas and we see what has happened in Baton Rouge.”

Earlier this month, a sniper attack killed five Dallas police officers during a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest. Then on Sunday, a former Marine gunned down three cops in Baton Rouge.

Speaking about the racial tensions that exist throughout the country, Payne analyzed both the Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movements.

” … That’s what this country was built on: it was built on compromise. I feel this way, you feel that way, what can we work together on? Black Lives Matter I think has been … scapegoated and taken and run with to make it something anti and negative,” he stated.

“But all they were saying in the beginning was it appeared that when these situations happened, black lives didn’t matter. Everyone just … ‘well, the child was killed, shot in the head, we go on … Blue lives have always mattered and so because someone wants to protect and defend their own, it does not mean that they’re against someone else.”