CITIZENS COMMITTEE LAUDS NJ JUDGE’S ‘EPIPHANY’ DECISION

BELLEVUE, WA – Last week’s decision by an Essex County, N.J. judge to scrap Newark’s crack-down on gun offenders because there’s no evidence that the “Gun Strategy” program has done anything to curb crime was likened to an “epiphany” by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA).

According to the Newark Star-Ledger, State Superior Court Assignment Judge Patricia Costello reportedly saw no benefit from the four-year-old program. She was quoted as sating, “It didn’t work the way it was intended.”

“Obviously,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “Judge Costello arrived at a moment of true clarity. She discovered what gun rights advocates have long understood: Feel-good gun control schemes do nothing to reduce crime.

“This is the ‘dirty little secret’ of gun control,” he added. “Studies by reputable researchers and even the Centers for Disease and Control have revealed that gun control laws, including the Clinton semi-auto ban have done nothing to reduce violent crime.

“Quite the contrary,” Gottlieb continued. “Of no surprise to us, the newspaper said gun crime actually increased since the program was implemented. Murders increased from 65 in 2002 to 97 last year and non-fatal shootings climbed from 236 in 2002 to 322 last year.

“Meanwhile,” Gottlieb added, “in state after state with sensible concealed carry laws, crime has gone down and anti-gunners have repeatedly been proven wrong when their dire predictions of murder, mayhem and blood in the streets never came true.

“In Newark’s case,” he noted, “gun offenders were essentially slapped on the wrist merely by raising their bail. They obviously continued committing crimes, because they kept showing up as repeat offenders, getting higher bails. We’re astonished that nobody in the system figured this out before Judge Costello stepped in.

“If you want to reduce gun crime in New Jersey,” Gottlieb concluded, “hit criminals with ‘Three Strikes’ and ‘Hard Time for Armed Crime’ laws, which were championed by gun owners. Pass shall-issue legislation, and a solid stand-your-ground law. Put criminals on notice that if the system doesn’t get them, one of their intended victims might. Criminals will have two options: Change their ways, or wish they had.”