Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli Fails on Gun Violence Prevention

TRENTON — Governor Phil Murphy today announced a series of gun violence prevention measures to further strengthen New Jersey’s nationally recognized gun safety laws, which have reduced gun-related deaths in the state to among the lowest per capita rate in the country. Meanwhile, Republican gubernatorial candidate and gun lobby ally Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli told supporters earlier this week, “we should repeal certain laws that have made legal firearms obsolete.”

Ciattarelli has publicly bashed New Jersey’s gun laws for years, claiming they’ve gone “too far,” but has yet to provide any solutions to keep New Jersyans safe from gun violence. In fact, Assemblyman Ciattarelli opposed a ban on military-style .50 caliber weapons and voted twice to back Chris Christie’s veto of a magazine ban, which families of children killed in the Sandy Hook massacre called a “slap in the face.”

Ciattarelli, as is his usual approach, has also mimicked Christie’s call for rushing through gun permit applications and relaxing concealed carry laws, a policy opposed by two-thirds of New Jerseyans. Why? Because he’s talked to a couple of truck drivers and realtors who’d like to carry a concealed, deadly weapon on the job.

“While Governor Murphy has enacted among the strongest gun safety laws in the nation, Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli wants to roll back our progress to put the gun lobby ahead of New Jersey families,” said Murphy for Governor Spokesman Jerrel Harvey. “New Jerseyans need a Governor who fights to protect them from gun violence, and Assemblyman Ciattarelli’s out-of-touch, pro-gun agenda is too extreme for New Jersey.”