By Michael Hill
Correspondent
“We just issued a new regulation in New Jersey yesterday,” said Gov. Chris Christie.
Hours before he said he said he was running for president and flew to New Hampshire for a town hall meeting, Gov. Christie cited the preventable death of Carol Bowne in Berlin Township as a reason to sign an executive order.
“She applied for a firearm to protect herself. She’s supposed to be issued that within 30 days. The local police department did not move on it. It was well past the 30-day deadline. That man violated the protective order and came into her home and stabbed her to death,” Christie said.
The governor’s executive order — covering buying, owning and carrying a gun — shortens the statutory waiting period from 30 to 14 days, if possible, for victims of violence and those who have a court order against someone and are under imminent threat of violence.
“It has to be put to the top of the pile without exception,” Christie said.
Bowne’s killer, Michael Eitel, was convicted in 2008 of assaulting another girlfriend with a weapon. He hanged himself days after killing Bowne. Berlin police say they were waiting on a fingerprint check to issue a permit to Bowne who — gun advocates say — had mistakenly applied for a firearm identification card instead of a permit to carry on April 21. She died June 3.
“There should be no waiting period for people that are in fear for their lives or that just want to use a firearm in self defense,” said New Jersey Second Amendment Society President Alexander Roubian.
The New Jersey Second Amendment Society says the governor’s order calling for a three-member commission to study the state’s gun laws is a waste of time when law-abiding citizens are waiting and dying.
“Her family told me she went to the police department almost every single day telling them, ‘This man is going to murder me. I would like to have my firearm.’ And they still took their time,” Roubian said.
Domestic violence survivor-turned advocate Patrice Lenowitz says it’s about protection.
“Now, it’s illegal to make threats against somebody, to stalk somebody, to harass somebody. Why was he on the streets?” Lenowitz asked.
Berlin Township’s attorney says the blame belongs to the person who committed the crime and about Bowne going to the police station, the attorney says, “To our knowledge — not to argue — she did not check on her gun permit at any time after she applied for it.”
Right now there’s a bill that awaits Gov. Christie’s signature or veto that would force convicted domestic violence abusers and those under a restraining order to surrender or sell their guns. Sen. Loretta Weinberg — who supports the executive order — co-sponsored the bill.
“I think it is equally, if not more important, to take guns away from abusers so that the victims won’t feel it necessary to carry a gun in self defense,” Weinberg said.
“My test is this as a former prosecutor — if a law enhances public safety I’m willing to consider it. If it’s just a press release, I’m not,” Christie said.
It was New Hampshire gun advocates who warned Gov. Christie two years ago not to sign a ban on the .50 caliber rifle in New Jersey, a ban he sought, but ultimately vetoed saying the bill wasn’t what he wanted.
“What we need to find in this country is real solutions to violent crime,” Christie said.
But, the governor’s 11th hour executive order has observers wondering again about his real motives as he campaigns and stakes so much of his presidential ambitions on voters in the first-in-the-nation primary state.