New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday that his state has one of the lowest rates of gun deaths in the United States not because it has strict gun laws, but because he enforces the laws already on the books and supports community policing.
"In Camden, New Jersey, which used to be the most dangerous city in America, we fired the entire police force and brought in a new police force," the GOP presidential candidate told
CBS News' "This Morning" program.
"As governor, I'll do anything I have to do to protect the lives of the people in New Jersey and fight again these criminals ... that's the kind of leadership we need in the country and we don't have it right now."
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Christie, though, does not believe that new gun laws are needed in the wake of the
on-air murders of Virginia TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, committed by a disgruntled former reporter, Bryce Williams, whose legal name is Vester Flanagan.
"We should do more about mental health in this country," said Christie, calling the shootings an "awful tragedy." But the fact is, he said, "we need to know more about people's mental health. I don't know the particulars about him, nor does anybody else."
What's even more important, he said, is that laws already on the books are not being enforced.
Christie also spoke of continuing his campaign, despite low numbers in all recent polls, and criticized Donald Trump and the media's focus on him.
"It's my job to introduce myself, my ideas, my programs, my visions of leadership," said Christie. "It's not my business to be sitting here, even though here we are sitting here this morning for three or four minutes already, and all we're asking about is Donald Trump. I'm not going engage in that."
He said he has his own four-step plan for securing the border: putting fencing or walling in urban areas, enforcing laws, using drone or cameras along the border, and penalizing employers in the country who hire undocumented immigrants
.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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