Chris Christie Takes Credit For Vetoing NJ Gun Ban That He Proposed

During Thursday’s Republican presidential debate, Chris Christie cited his veto of a proposed gun ban to bolster his conservative bonafides… while leaving off the inconvenient fact that he was the one who proposed the ban to begin with.

Christie made the argument after rival Marco Rubio accused him of being pro-gun control. “If you look at my record as governor of New Jersey, I have vetoed a 50-caliber rifle ban,” Christie shot back. “I have vetoed a reduction in clip size. I vetoed a statewide I.D. system for gun owners and I pardoned six out-of-state folks who came through our state and were arrested for owning a gun legally in another state.”

But as Mediaite’s own Tommy Christopher pointed out back in 2013, Christie was the one who proposed the 50-caliber rifle ban in the wake of Sandy Hook:

The bill that passed New Jersey’s Democratic legislature would have prohibited the Barrett .50 caliber long-range rifle. Although Christie this spring proposed a ban on future sales of the firearm, he vetoed the ultimate bill because he said it went too far, requiring residents who already own the rifle to give theirs up.

In a veto message to the General Assembly, Christie wrote that the bill “will not further our collective fight against crime, but serve only to confuse law-abiding gun owners with the threat of imprisonment for lawful recreation. I cannot approve of that result.”

Going back to the original press release still available on the Governor’s website, Christie’s office seemed pretty proud of New Jersey’s already strict gun laws: “Building on New Jersey’s already strong guns laws that rank among the toughest in the country, Governor Chris Christie has a comprehensive and responsible action plan to help reduce gun violence,” the release reads.

“Governor Christie’s plan to responsibly expand New Jersey’s strict gun control measures includes: Banning future purchases of the Barrett .50 Caliber (New Jersey law would ban any weapon that is substantially identical to the Barrett .50 Caliber),” it continues. It also brags that New Jersey was “one of only seven states with a ban on assault weapons” and had “the third strictest magazine capacity laws in the country.”

[Image via screengrab]
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