The most recent GOP presidential candidate to throw his hat in the ring – Gov. Chris Christie – will face many critics on Second Amendment issues, as his stance has been openly against assault weapons, which reportedly was the reason he got into politics and decided to run for office in 1993.
Following his formal presidential launch Tuesday, The Hayride’s Kevin Boyd reported, “The problem with Christie is not that he’s anti-gun, it’s that he’s not a leader on the issue. If you want someone to be passionate about protecting your Second Amendment rights, Christie is not your guy.”
However, President of Americans for Limited Government Rick Manning told Breitbart News that it is more accurate to say Christie is anti-gun.
Manning was a New Jersey NRA state lobbyist for six years and remained involved advocating gun rights during the semi-auto rifle debate. He said Christie was an unknown politician at the time who tried to attack Republican’s during his primary debate on the Second Amendment.
According to Manning, Christie wanted to ban semi-autos, but he failed in his efforts to get on the ballot in 1993 to challenge Republican John Dorsey – who was very pro-Second Amendment.
“Christie had entered the Republican primary to unseat a 15-year veteran of the New Jersey State Senate, a man for whom he had previously been an aide, Majority Leader John Dorsey. In his formal announcement, Christie explained, “The issue which has energized me to get into this race is the recent attempt by certain Republican legislators to repeal New Jersey’s ban on assault weapons,”” Politico reported in 2013.
Manning told Breitbart News, “Chris Christie was inspired to run for office by his desire to ban guns. To trust him as president of the United States would be disastrous for our second amendment rights.”
Christie’s position on the Second Amendment is detailed in several news excerpts on the website OnTheIssues.org.
“In April 1993 Christie announced that he would challenge incumbent state senator John Dorsey, an 18-year lawmaker, in the Republican primary. It was a big and brassy move because Dorsey was the Senate majority leader. We already have too many firearms in our community NJ’s ban on semiautomatic weapons. The ban was among the signature pieces of legislation passed,” notes OnTheIssues.org.
“The issue which has energized me to get into this race is the recent attempt by certain Republican legislators to repeal NJ’s ban on assault weapons,” Christie said, according to the website, which credits the book Rise to Power.
The website also points out that in 2009, Christie told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he is for some gun-control measures.
Also ahead of Christie’s formal White House announcement, NRA News released an informational video about a New Jersey woman, Carol Browne, who was killed by an ex-boyfriend, who was also a convicted felon.
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