January 17, 2013

Christie Forms Panel on Firearms and School Safety

By JENNIFER PRESTON

After facing sharp criticism for not mentioning gun violence in his State of the State speech, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey appointed a task force on Thursday to examine gun control measures and school safety, as well as look at some of the underlying problems behind gun violence, including addiction and mental illness.

On school safety, Mr. Christie, a Republican, said that he did not believe that putting armed guards outside schools was the answer for his state, but that he would be open to all of the ideas that the task force, led by two former state attorneys general, came up with. He has asked for the group to make its recommendations in 60 days.

“Violence in our society has never been solely about firearms, and we would miss an opportunity to better prevent heinous crimes if we didn’t look at the complete picture,” Mr. Christie said at a news conference in Trenton. “If we are truly going to take an honest and candid assessment of violence and public safety, we have to look more deeply at the underlying causes of many acts of violence.

“That means removing the stigma and evaluating issues of mental health, addiction, prevention and treatment services alongside the effectiveness of our firearms laws, enforcement mechanisms and our school safety measures.”

Mr. Christie, a former federal prosecutor, declined to comment on President Obama’s proposal for a federal ban on assault rifles and other measures, saying that he was focusing his efforts inside the state. He noted that the state already has such a ban and limits the rounds of ammunition in a magazine to 15. The president’s proposal recommends 10.

But he did weigh into the controversy over the National Rifle Association’s mentioning Mr. Obama’s children in an advertisement unveiled this week. The advertisement, which heralds the N.R.A.’s proposal to put armed guards at schools, notes that the president’s children are provided with protection by the Secret Service.

Mr. Christie called it “reprehensible” to refer to the children and said that such actions undermined the organization’s credibility and efforts to make its case.

When asked if he was concerned about the organization’s political power as he considered what steps to take in New Jersey to reduce gun violence that could include stricter gun measures, Mr. Christie said, “I don’t worry about the N.R.A.” He added that he was not worried about people who are gun control advocates, either.

“I am willing to listen to all of them,” he said. “As you know, I don’t spend a lot of time worrying.”

In contrast to the swift action by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and lawmakers in New York that led to tighter gun measures this week, Mr. Christie did not mention guns as he laid out his legislative agenda in his speech last week. With the task force, he said, he has decided to take a more “deliberate approach” to address concerns in the aftermath of the shootings in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 children and 6 adults at an elementary school.