Every senator and Assembly member who voted did so for a bill to keep guns out of the hands of convicted carjackers, gangsters and others — including both Democrats and Republicans. But, Gov. Chris Christie didn’t even act on it, so the bill simply died in what’s called a pocket veto. Bill sponsor Tim Eustace of Bergen County joined NJTV News Correspondent Michael Hill in the Agnes Varis NJTV Studio.
Hill: What were you expecting from the governor on this bill?
Eustace: I was simply expecting him to sign the bill. It’s common sense legislation and usually the governor went along with common sense legislation. It had bipartisan support. No one voted against this bill. It surprised me.
Hill: Did he say anything about why he just let it disappear?
Eustace: Not a word, but as his spokesman said there were just a lot of bills.
Hill: Not in defense of the governor, but I talked to the president of the Second Amendment Society and he said that the legislation, there are already laws on the books for this kind of thing. That some of the folks who have been convicted for these kinds of crimes and so forth aren’t supposed to possess guns anyway.
Eustace: Good point. There are federal laws about that, but if cops stop somebody in New Jersey how [familiar with] federal laws will they be? In New Jersey there’s a list of people who are not allowed to possess or buy a firearm. What we did was just amend that list to add some of the more unusual crimes: carjacking, gang violence, racketeering and terroristic threats. I don’t think when the laws were written that we had a worry about terroristic threats. So this is a cleanup really, and not a surprise. It was a matter of tightening up laws and making it safer for the citizens of New Jersey, which again is why it had so much support.
Hill: In this case why do you think the governor, and I’m asking you to speculate, why do you think the governor now didn’t act on this gun legislation?
Eustace: I have to say that’s the reason — it’s gun legislation. I’ve said before that I don’t think he’s governing New Jersey anymore. He’s simply running for president. This is feeding the masses whereever he’s traveling, and the responsibility should be governor first. Many governors run for president, right? So, why not do your responsibilities first. Your job is governor of New Jersey. So, my thought was this governor has voted for responsible legislation before and I think he’s done a good job on many fronts. This is why this wasn’t a heavy lift. I do have to tell you that I support the Second Amendment myself. I am a gun owner and I’m not interested in taking people’s guns out of their hands. But this is the most populous state in the country. It makes good sense to make it safer for our citizens.
Hill: But he is playing to a national audience, you said, because the first vote of course is in New Hampshire in less than two weeks. Is that what he’s appealing to, you think?
Eustace: I really do think so.
Hill: In this case, what do you do next? Will you have the lawmakers, your counterparts in the Legislature, try to override this veto? The Legislature has not been successful in the past.
Eustace: We have not been successful in the past, but we have a larger majority this time around. I think we’ll reintroduce the bill as soon as possible. We could have a vote as early as Feb. 18. I know that the Senate is ready to reintroduce the bill as are we. This is important that we make New Jersey as safe as possible and I think that the governor will see that this is a mistake. It could be there were too many things on his desk. I do have to say, however, that this bill came out of committee in June, both in the Senate and in the Assembly, so not having time is not a valid reason. I would imagine that the governor’s office knows what’s coming down the pike. Certainly in my office I know what’s coming down the pike. Had the governor made the time or the effort to be here in New Jersey, or to govern the state of New Jersey, I think he would have agreed that this is a common sense bill.