Chris Christie: I don’t want just gun control, I want violence control
“If all we do is talk about gun control, then we’re missing the point,” Christie explained. “What I’d like to have a real conversation about, and I intend to start very, very soon, is not just about gun control. That’s part of it. But it’s also about violence control.”…
Christie’s reply was fleet-footed and fascinating. First he emphasized that New Jersey already has an assault weapons ban—and reminded the audience that he “said during my time as a prosecutor and my time as governor that I support that.” (This is true, and has gotten him in some trouble with conservatives like Rush Limbaugh.) He added that he “absolutely believe[s] we have to have a continued discussion about gun control,” and that he’s “happy to be part of the conversation.”…
So what is violence control? In part, Christie’s vision involves improved mental-health care system. “The young man who committed that horrific act… he was seriously mentally ill young man,” he said. “And you have to ask yourself, what was he doing not being treated? What was he doing living in a house where his mother legally owned all those weapons? And he had access to them. His mother is dead today because he was not being treated.”
But the governor also fingered video games as a possible focus of his coming violence-control plan.









Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »
Big Brother
SouthernGent on January 16, 2013 at 11:02 PM
Good luck with that and the ACLU.
John the Libertarian on January 16, 2013 at 11:05 PM
Actually, I hold her liable.
John the Libertarian on January 16, 2013 at 11:06 PM
Maybe we could all take a drug that makes us passive and obedient. That could reduce violence. Maybe implant some tracking chips into everyone or two-way viewing screens in our living rooms so we can make sure everyone is safe. And please, do it for the children.
Flange on January 16, 2013 at 11:06 PM
How about Calorie Control, big guy?
portlandon on January 16, 2013 at 11:07 PM
Given the state he’s running for election in and his usual MO, this qualifies as red meat in advance of the 2016 primaries.
HitNRun on January 16, 2013 at 11:09 PM
This egomaniac is going to be so irate at being rejected by GOP primary voters that he will go third party just out of spite. Just watch.
Mark1971 on January 16, 2013 at 11:13 PM
But his family was wealthy, it’s not like access was a problem. They had the means to get him mental health care.
But they chose not to.
Are we going to put in place a program that every family is to be monitored by Big Brother to ensure they’re doing what the government feels is in everyone’s best interests?
There is not a single government program or wish list (staying without the boundaries of the US Constitution as we know it) that would have prevented what happened at Sandy Hook. NOTHING!
ButterflyDragon on January 16, 2013 at 11:13 PM
Sounds like Christie is now a Bloomberg ‘Republican’
/Puke
Lance Murdock on January 16, 2013 at 11:15 PM
The idea of a man, who cannot control his own food intake, demanding control of anything from anyone else is laughable.
Resist We Much on January 16, 2013 at 11:17 PM
How are things in Newark, Christie?
The more this guy talks, the less that I like him. He has all of the controlling qualities of nanny-staters and an outsized inability to see real threats to the nation.
onlineanalyst on January 16, 2013 at 11:18 PM
FIFY
Resist We Much on January 16, 2013 at 11:18 PM
We should ban violence… stuff like assault and murder. I can’t believe we tolerate it.
El_Terrible on January 16, 2013 at 11:19 PM
I don’t have the stats but haven’t the numbers of violent crimes in America been falling since the 90s? I mean NYC has gone from 2300 to <500 homicides per year and there were less than 800 for the whole state even with NYC's numbers.
xkaydet65 on January 16, 2013 at 11:19 PM
How about some serious hard-core civility training for libturds?
stukinIL4now on January 16, 2013 at 11:20 PM
If Romney could win, Christie has an equal chance of taking his rascal to the convention.
El_Terrible on January 16, 2013 at 11:21 PM
Mark1971 on January 16, 2013 at 11:25 PM
I normally apply the “lesser evil” litmus test when it comes to voting, but I’m really starting to hope he loses his election. The national GOP could use a reminder of how far “moderating” gets us when the option is presented to elect a real Democrat.
The Count on January 16, 2013 at 11:26 PM
stupid fat statist moron.
Heart attack long before he ever even runs. and by runs I mean for office, because he sure cant run the other way…
rightwingyahooo on January 16, 2013 at 11:27 PM
have another piece of pie, christie, you fat turd. Have 3.
rightwingyahooo on January 16, 2013 at 11:28 PM
If all we do is talk about violence control, then we are missing the point.
Violence is just one small, though very serious, aspect of people not respecting other people’s rights. Now what institution is it in society which is the most flagrant violator of people’s rights?
Take the beam out of your own eye first, Christie.
Freakin’ socialists. They come in all sizes and affiliations.
Dusty on January 16, 2013 at 11:29 PM
Here’s an idea: Outlaw criminals! That will take care of all of your problems. Law abiding citizens can keep their Constitutional rights (like bearing arms), and criminals (who abuse those rights) can be prosecuted.
Win – win!
Now STFU.
RoadRunner on January 16, 2013 at 11:30 PM
Christie is such a maverick–in the perjorative McCain sense. Governor Chris “Charlie” CRISTie.
An Objectivist on January 16, 2013 at 11:40 PM
That might actually help the GOP if he runs as an independent because he might actually win a few blue states if he keeps going down this road. No way he wins as an independent any red states. It also depends on who the Democrat nominee is. The damage he could do to them will be greater if they don’t pick Hilary.
William Eaton on January 16, 2013 at 11:42 PM
lol. Why are we even talking about 2016. We’ll be beyond financial repair, and there’ll be 10 million new Democrats.
El_Terrible on January 16, 2013 at 11:49 PM
How about back-stabbing, treasonous, dictator-loving, douchebag control?
Get lost, dirtball.
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on January 17, 2013 at 12:11 AM
We can monitor all of their phone, email and other communications and follow them around with drones. With all of the information their high tech cameras and listening devices collect, combined with everybody’s healthcare and psychological records wrapped up into one handy dossier for the government perusal, it should be easy enough to find people who might harbor thoughts of violence and weed them out. If they get rid of all the people who might do something wrong some day in the future the children will be, oh, so much safer. /snif
FloatingRock on January 17, 2013 at 12:22 AM
/sniff
FloatingRock on January 17, 2013 at 12:22 AM
So the Beast is pumping Chris Christie for Prez candidate, despite the fact he ‘waddles’.
Some backtracking going on concerning gun control today. Guess some internal numbers were not as good as expected.
Good Beast, just trying to help the GOP pick a winner
Naughty Christie. After turning the election for Obama, he figured the pork would fall from the skies, but it didn’t get fast tracked for some reason. Not sure either side wants him to look like a hero, but it seems the Libs would sure like him to be the new face of the GOP
entagor on January 17, 2013 at 12:24 AM
i partially agree. yes, we need to address the problems of substance abuse and mental health care more. but no, we don’t need more gun control and for goodness sake, stop the stupid video game blaming thing!!!
Sachiko on January 17, 2013 at 12:29 AM
I liked that. Did you know he traded in the NJ State Police Huey for a Chinook?
arnold ziffel on January 17, 2013 at 12:34 AM
I don’t keep tabs on him but have heard he uses the helicopter like it was his own, even to go to his kids sporting events. He reminds me a lot of Obama.
FloatingRock on January 17, 2013 at 12:41 AM
Seems to me, Christie is the LAST person we should be listening to on “control” issues of any kind. Beneficial control is clearly something he hasn’t demonstrated much proficiency with.
Harbingeing on January 17, 2013 at 12:58 AM
In his defense the CH-47 Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter and it may have been a safety issue.
sharrukin on January 17, 2013 at 1:04 AM
Very good point. The crew probably values their lives and didn’t want to worry about weight/balance CG issues.
arnold ziffel on January 17, 2013 at 1:16 AM
Actually, I hold him liable. (The son, that is.)
GWB on January 17, 2013 at 1:34 AM
I guess our national conversation is not going to include talking about gangs, which account for 80-90% of gun violence. Or of the news media, which ignores the advice of psychiatrists and creates sagas about each mass shooting, playing into their mad fantasies.
PattyJ on January 17, 2013 at 1:41 AM
Yeah great. Let’s pretend the problem of murder in this country is a form that accounts for maybe 0.01% of it. Let’s just ignore the fact that the vast majority of killings happen in inner cities and that America’s murder rate is hugely skewed by urban minority gang culture and that the young men who have a murder rate which is 7 times the national average don’t have “mental health issues” but are just nasty, evil pieces of cr@p with absolutely no morals, as a result of 4 decades of left-liberal social engineering and the breakdown of the family unit.
Sharke on January 17, 2013 at 2:19 AM
Hey, I know! Let’s pick Christie to be our nominee in 2016! A gun grabbing fat azz is exactly what the doctor ordered — he’ll be a shoo in!
NoLeftTurn on January 17, 2013 at 3:00 AM
And some people want to legalize drugs!
OldEnglish on January 17, 2013 at 3:04 AM
Violence control? Is this guy for real?
Maybe Christie should take a page from Rahm’s book for Chicago, just start telling the gangbangers to “get away from that kid” because I’m certain they are just looking for someone to tell them to stop.
Violence control? The very notion is absurd. The fact that he believes that government legislation can somehow control people to not engage in acts of violence is a complete farce to say nothing of it ignoring human nature.
Violence is already illegal as is murder. Perhaps (as mentioned above) New Jersey can start requiring everyone take mind altering drugs to pacify the populace so people are nice to each other. That is about the only thing that will keep people from assaulting and murdering each other.
Man kind has been killing each other since the first history books were written. Throughout history we have found ways to brutally destroy each other in horrific mass killings. These things took place well before video games and violent movies. These kinds of things are simply reflections of our culture, not something that shapes it. Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany didn’t get all worked up playing Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto and certainly hookers were beaten and killed well before someone did it in a video game. So why are we targeting things that are simply symptoms of our society instead of the cause?
Ah, because holding the right people accountable is HARD. We, as parents or mentors, would have to take responsibility of teaching our kids that violence is a last resort and limited only for means of defense and preservation of life. Its hard to police their exposure to violent video games or movies until they are old enough to understand the difference between reality and fiction. It’s tough work and certainly much easier to farm that responsibility to the government.
Don’t worry everyone. Soon the CDC will absolve you of all responsibility and place the blame on divisive conservative rhetoric and those EVIL NRA talking points.
I don’t mean to pick on Christie but frankly he has no more control over violence then we (the public) have on his food portion control. Everyone is going to live the way they want regardless of how many laws we create to criminalize their behavior.
Flashwing on January 17, 2013 at 3:47 AM
Death penalty (no appeals) for felonies committed with the use of a firearm. What do I care about the life of someone who holds up a gas station with a gun? Thin the herd.
Mandatory prison time (five or ten years) for those unlicensed firearms.
BuckeyeSam on January 17, 2013 at 4:16 AM
What we really need is control of liberal leftist. Get them under control and we can fix the country.
bgibbs1000 on January 17, 2013 at 4:41 AM
yawn
don’t care anymore about christie
cmsinaz on January 17, 2013 at 5:51 AM
And an equivalent chance in the general.
besser tot als rot on January 17, 2013 at 6:50 AM
Fast and Furious!
Fast and Furious!
Fast and Furious!
This administration smuggled guns into Mexico. People died! People were murdered including at least one American border patrol agent!
Chris Christie.. what do you think about that? Stop your opportunistic blathering and answer this one question. If the President of the United States actually smuggled guns into Mexico to drug lords for the purposes of increasing crimes and murders… what’s your opinion about that?
JellyToast on January 17, 2013 at 7:04 AM
Isn’t Rubio’s specialty winning three way races against careerist egomaniacs disguised as moderate Republicans?
Illinidiva on January 17, 2013 at 7:11 AM
Crispy Kreme has gone the way of Arlen Spector – rejected nationally by conservatives and never to be quite accepted by the progressive socialists. He’ll stay a very big fish (VERY big) in a small pond.
tommyboy on January 17, 2013 at 7:39 AM
Glad to see I’m not the only one here with this position.
Nitpicky whining aside, guns are made to intimidate and kill. Misuse them and you are a walking menace to society to be shot by any lawful citizen from a janitor with a snub-nose pistol to a SEAL with an assault rifle.
MelonCollie on January 17, 2013 at 8:30 AM
Chris Christie could use some calorie control.
steebo77 on January 17, 2013 at 8:34 AM
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »