I don't live in NJ, but I ran into some useful info that maybe relavent to this debate.
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[url]http://www.bergen.com/campaign/govad24200110242.htm[/url]
Ad watch: Jim McGreevey on Gun Control
Wednesday, October 24, 2001
Candidate: Jim McGreevey, Democrat
Subject: Gun control
Producer: Greer, Margolis, Mitchell, Burns & Associates
MEDIUM
Thirty-second television ad that began running Tuesday on New York and Philadelphia television and New Jersey cable.
THE TEXT
(Narrator) The Philadelphia Inquirer says Bret Schundler "supports a law permitting the carrying of concealed guns." That's right. Bret Schundler promised the gun lobby he'd sign a law allowing people to carry concealed guns. And that's why New Jersey police say Schundler's position on guns is "extreme."
(Voice of Jim McGreevey) I stood up to the gun lobby and voted to ban assault weapons. The only people who should carry concealed weapons are cops. Concealed guns in New Jersey? Not if I'm governor.
VISUALS
Footage includes an unsmiling picture of Schundler superimposed on a swift moving montage of images, including a man pulling back his denim jacket to reveal a holstered handgun stuffed under his belt. Other images include three police officers, and close-up of McGreevey.
THE SPIN
The subject is guns, but the real message here is ideology. As he has from almost the outset of the campaign, McGreevey wants voters to think of Schundler, his Republican rival for governor, as a conservative whose views are out of sync with most moderate-leaning voters in New Jersey. The key phrase in the ad is the reference to "extreme" in the Fraternal Order of Police's endorsement. The ad also attempts to make voters believe the concealed weapons bill has some momentum in Trenton and McGreevey would stop it, when in fact it has languished in committee for years.
THE FACTS
Schundler did say he would support a law permitting people with the proper training to carry concealed guns, but only if it passed the Legislature with widespread public support. But Schundler said he doubted that the measure would go anywhere and that he would not lobby for its passage. In August, Schundler changed his tune, claiming his position on concealed weapons was misunderstood and that he only supported legislation that would allow people to carry weapons in rare circumstances, such as a woman who has received a death threat. Schundler also said he has since learned that such a provision is already permitted in state law. He also says that if elected, he would enforce the state's gun control laws and not try to change them. McGreevey did vote for former Gov. Jim Florio's ban on semiautomatic "assault-style" weapons as a member of the Assembly in 1990. -->
Copyright © 2001 North Jersey Media Group Inc.