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Jeff Bell on Gun Control |
Bell: Strongly Disagree
A: Strongly support. As the Supreme Court has ruled, the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own firearms, including for self-defense. It is dismaying that some state legislatures, particularly in New Jersey, have steered away from this principle and imposed a flurry of regulations that will impinge on lawful gun owners rather than reduce gun crime. Gun violence in our cities, such as the kind that is ravaging Newark, are rooted in social breakdown. The more we can encourage family cohesiveness and economic growth, the less likely violence of any kind is to occur in our urban areas. We know this because gun violence, particularly as related to gang activity, is concentrated in the most impoverished parts of many major cities. We also need to give law enforcement the ability to respond to this problem, and that includes the "stop and frisk" tactic that helped reduce violence in New York.
Competitive primaries tend to attract a party's most hard-core supporters, and the Republican candidates debated who was most supportive of gun owners' rights. Booker, meanwhile, advocates for stronger gun control measures and was active in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization founded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.