Michael Aron joins NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams and Correspondent David Cruz from the State House.
Williams: Michael, to what extent was the vote affected by San Bernardino?
Aron: I don’t think it had a whole lot to do with San Bernardino. It really goes back 18 months when a gun dealer in California and another in Maryland claimed that for selling smart guns they were harassed by the NRA, which doesn’t want to see smart guns and the mandate in New Jersey go into effect. So, Loretta Weinberg wrote to the NRA and said she’d repeal her mandate if they would allow this smart gun to be sold across the nation. She’s never heard from them, so she crafted this compromise bill. It’s a middle ground. It’s not that every gun dealer can only sell smart guns, it’s that they must offer smart guns three years after the gun becomes available.
Williams: David Cruz, the president seemed to link fighting terrorism to gun control. Governor Christie’s response?
Cruz: Well, the governor was on the radio in New Hampshire this morning and he called the whole speech absurd saying that terrorist are not going to care much about any new gun laws in the United States when they’re going to commit their acts. So, it’s kind of what Christie has been doing all along. He has really kind of taken the events in California and embraced them almost as if they were in a Sandy mode.
Williams: The president also called for tightening visa restrictions for immigrants. Do either of you have the sense that that would pass Congress?
Aron: Visa restrictions for immigrants, I think a Republican Congress might pass something along those lines.
Williams: He was talking about the woman in San Bernardino who was here on a fiance visa.
Aron: He said he would have his team look into that fiance visa. It’s hard to know whether anything will come of that.
Cruz: One of the things about that, Donald Trump today said that he wanted to ban on all Muslim immigration into the United States. You want to talk about radical, there you go.