Governor Christie Acts on Violence Prevention with Comprehensive Review of the Intersection of Gun Control, Addiction, Mental Health and School Safety Issues
NJ SAFE Task Force will Study and Provide Recommendations on How to Better Prevent Violent Crime
Trenton, NJ – Acting on his commitment to take a full and comprehensive look at the intersection of gun control, addiction, mental health and school safety in New Jersey, Governor Christie today created the NJ SAFE Task Force. The Task Force will be chaired by two former attorneys general of New Jersey, a Democrat and a Republican, with a membership of individuals with expertise in the fields of mental health diagnosis and treatment, addiction services and treatment, gun control and law enforcement, and school safety. The task force’s review comes in the context of a state with among the toughest gun laws in the nation, including an existing assault weapons ban. Nonetheless, Governor Christie wants a full assessment to consider whether additional common sense measures are appropriate for New Jersey.
“Violence in our society has never been solely about firearms, and we would miss an opportunity to better prevent heinous crimes if we didn’t look at the complete picture,” said Governor Christie. “If we are truly going to take an honest and candid assessment of violence and public safety, we have to look more deeply at the underlying causes of many acts of violence. That means removing the stigma and evaluating issues of mental health, addiction, prevention and treatment services alongside the effectiveness of our firearms laws, enforcement mechanisms, and our school safety measures.
“My commitment has always been to evaluate public safety, criminal policy, and behavioral science with an approach that recognizes that these issues cannot be separated from one another. The SAFE Task Force will further my commitment in that regard as we look at how we can better guarantee violence control,” continued Governor Christie.
Posted: January 17th, 2013 | Author: admin | Filed under: Chris Christie, Christie Administration, Gun Control, Gun Rights, Guns, NJ SAFE Task Force, Press Release | Tags: Chris Christie, Crime, Dr Brian Zychowski, Dr Manuel Guantez, Evelyn Sullivan, Gun Violence, James Romer, John Degnan, Mental Illness, NJ SAFE Task Force, Peter Verniero, violence | Comments Off on Governor Christie Acts on Violence Prevention with Comprehensive Review of the Intersection of Gun Control, Addiction, Mental Health and School Safety Issues