Democrat Candidate From Verona Wants ‘F’ From NRA On Guns
VERONA, NJ — Verona businesswoman and U.S. Congress candidate Tamara Harris wants an “F” for her efforts on gun control… just as long as it comes from the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Last weekend, Harris – a Democrat who is running to replace soon-to-retire Rodney Frelinghuysen in the U.S. House of Representatives – went on Facebook Live to “unpack the NRA” and announce that she will never accept campaign donations from the group’s Political Victory Fund, which releases an annual report card that grades local elected representatives on gun rights issues.
During her video, Harris said that if she’s elected in the state’s 11th Congressional District this November, she pledges to get an “F” on the NRA’s annual report card.
“One of the issues that keeps coming up in our community is the fear of gun violence and the concerns of gun safety,” Harris said. “I truly believe that the shootings that we’ve been witnessing in this country especially in our schools is a symptom of a public health crisis in this country that I believe has reached epidemic proportions.”
Harris said that gun control is not only a 2nd Amendment issue, but also a “public health” problem. (Watch the video below)
Harris isn’t the only Democrat in the Essex County area to try to spin an “F” rating from the NRA into a positive campaign point.
In February, U.S. Congressman Donald Payne Jr., who represents the state’s 10th District and has been a vocal supporter of gun control efforts, revealed that the NRA gave him an “F” grade for his record on gun-related issues.
“Anger is an appropriate response to senseless gun violence and political inaction. Moments of silence used to be for showing honor or respect,” Payne said. “There is nothing honorable about keeping silent and doing nothing to prevent gun violence. Even as children, worshipers, concert-goers, and people from all walks of life die in one mass shooting after another, Congress has rejected every reasonable gun bill proposed in the past decade… The American people are right to be angry at their government for failing to pass reasonable gun safety laws. They have a right to scream out, to speak up, to sit in, and to protest until Congress does something.”
Not all New Jersey residents have agreed with the opinions of gun control advocates such as Harris and Payne, however.
Following a wave of student-led protests against gun violence in protest of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, gun rights advocacy group New Jersey Second Amendment Society (NJ2AS) said that new gun control legislation isn’t the way to stop school shootings.
“Unfortunately, this will not be the last mass shooting in America, in a school or any other soft target, and no new gun laws will prevent anyone with enough hate in their heart from committing such a crime,” the NJ2AS stated.
The group continued:
“This tragedy happened because law enforcement authorities failed to properly act on numerous incidents and public tips, in addition to bureaucrats within the education system that failed to properly address the troubled young teen. We can certainly do better to improve the existing systems in place and properly enforce gun regulations already on the books.”
In February, New Jersey’s oldest gun rights advocacy group announced a new federal lawsuit to overturn New Jersey’s firearm carry law on the ground that it violates the Second Amendment.
The Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs – which filed the lawsuit in cooperation with the National Rifle Association – attacked New Jersey’s “draconian restrictions” on carrying a handgun outside the home… specifically the “justifiable need” requirement that has frustrated Garden State gun rights advocates for years.
In January, the Coalition of New Jersey Firearm Owners was one of several pro-gun rights groups to decry S-3477, which former Governor Chris Christie signed into law.
The law bans the possession or sale of a bump stock, a device designed to attach to a semi-automatic firearm in order to fire shots in rapid succession in a manner that simulates an automatic weapon.
HOW TO GET AN ‘F’ FROM THE NRA
The NRA’s annual grading system routinely fall along party lines. According to the Washington Post, out of 49 Democrat and independent U.S. Congress members, only nine had grades above an “F” last year. None of those were from New Jersey.
On the flip side of the coin, out of 51 Republicans, just three graded below an “A-minus”: John McCain (Arizona), Susan Collins (Maine) and Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania).
According to the NRA’s Political Victory Fund, an A+ grade means “a legislator with not only an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues, but who has also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment.”
An F grade represents a “true enemy of gun owners’ rights… a consistent anti-gun candidate who always opposes gun owners’ rights and/or actively leads anti-gun legislative efforts, or sponsors anti-gun legislation.”
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