
“Trump-backed Jack Ciattarelli captures GOP nomination for New Jersey governor,” Fox News reported Monday. “Jack Ciattarelli secures the New Jersey Republican nomination; Trump endorsement proves decisive in primary.”
Incumbent Democrat Governor Phil Murphy has been term-limited out. The general election will be in November. So, who will “former GOP state lawmaker” Ciattarellie be facing? A current state representative from “across the aisle.”
“Democrat Mikie Sherrill wins NJ gubernatorial primary, setting up showdown with Trump-backed GOP winner,” Fox News followed up on Tuesday. “The New Jersey governor’s race is an early test of President Trump’s second term.”
With Murphy having imposed “draconian” infringements on the right to keep and bear arms, and Trump having won the presidency by making grand promises to gun owners about “our beautiful Second Amendment,” it’s fair to wonder what impact the issue will have on candidate positions.
“On gun control: Ciattarelli pledges on his website to ‘speed up’ the gun permit application process and ‘fast track’ it for victims of domestic violence and others in ‘imminent danger,’” a June 6 NJ Spotlight News profile of GOP candidates reported. “He said he would oppose fee increases for identification cards and carry permits. Ciattarelli also said he would reform or repeal laws violating an individual’s right to due process and allow all now legally purchased firearms to remain so if in the future they are deemed illegal.”
Sherill makes no secret of where she stands, with a full-throated endorsement from Giffords that starts with a false authority fallacy about what a good shot she was in the Navy, which has absolutely nothing to do with what a faithful steward of the Constitution she has been. The answer to that is pretty obvious by who’s backing her as a “gun safety champion,” and why:
In office, Representative Sherrill has pushed for commonsense gun safety measures while also protecting the Second Amendment rights of responsible gun owners [sic]. The first bill she co-sponsored was a measure to extend background checks to all gun sales—and she proudly helped pass that legislation through the House in both 2019 and 2021. Throughout her time in Washington DC, Representative Sherrill has also voted to ban bump stocks, incentivize the safe storage of firearms, secure desperately needed federal funding for research into the root causes of gun violence, disarm domestic abusers, and provide needed appropriations to lifesaving community violence intervention programs. In 2022, Representative Sherrill also played a crucial role in helping to pass the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: the first major gun safety bill to be signed into law in nearly 30 years.
And, naturally, she’s stumping for “a nationwide ban on semi-automatic weapons.”
Understand that this is New Jersey, where GOP gun squishes like Chris Christie once campaigned on keeping “assault weapons” banned, just like Sherrill. 2A advocacy writer John Petrolino reported in April that Ciattarelli has balked at the issue of reciprocity and showed himself to be a weaker candidate on guns than rival media news personality Bill Spadea, and a black mark against his record was that he co-sponsored an idiotic statewide “gun buyback” program.
But Ciatarelli’s the guy who won, and we should note he also voted against requiring a justifiable need for firearm purchases, reducing magazine capacities, and other infringements, and has pledged that he’s open to hearing gun owner concerns “based on the facts they present.”
Not perfect, is he? Inarguably, though, he is a damn sight better than the alternative, and it doesn’t have to be a total “lesser of two evils” choice.
Gun owners need to present those “facts” to him, including one important one: He’s already struck out in his race for the top spot twice, and it’ll be a guaranteed third if he doesn’t get their support. The state GOP needs to grok that, too.
Being one of the worst states in the union for eviscerating the Second Amendment, there’s much to be said on having the ear of a governor with veto power.
New Jersey gun owners do have a choice. What they do with it is up to them.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
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