Christie: No, Gun Control Laws Not Why NJ Has Low Gun Death Rate

Republican presidential candidate, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during an education summit, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015, in Londonderry, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
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In the wake of the shooting deaths of two Virginia journalists, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Thursday morning argued that the U.S. does not need stricter gun control laws to reduce the rate of gun deaths.

“It’s just an awful tragedy,” Christie said on “CBS This Morning” while responding to the murders. “My heart goes out to those folks who suffered that loss. It’s a terrible thing. I think most Americans are tired — tired of violence, tired of lawlessness. They want folks to do something about it.”

Co-host Norah O’Donnell asked Christie if he attributed the low rate of gun death in New Jersey to the state’s strict gun control laws.

“No, that’s because they have a governor who enforces the law and also supports community policing,” he responded, adding that community policing techniques have helped the crime rate in Camden.

He called for a focus on mental health and law enforcement.

“We need to have more information about people’s mental health background. But we don’t need new laws in this country to do that,” he said on CBS. “All you hear now is: Let’s have new laws, new laws, but we don’t enforce the laws we have.”

In a separate interview on “Fox and Friends,” Christie responded to President Obama’s Wednesday statement that “the number of people who die from gun-related incidents around this country dwarfs any deaths that happen through terrorism.”

“I don’t know that anybody in America believes that they feel more threatened by this than they feel a threat by ISIS or by other terrorist groups around the world,” Christie said on Fox News.

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