TRENTON)- New Jersey Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald (D-Camden/Burlington) released the following statement Friday after the executive director of the National Rifle Association’s New Jersey affiliate referred to family members of the victims of the Newtown shooting as “props” for supporting New Jersey legislation to reduce ammunition magazine capacity.
Scott Bach is the Executive Director of the Association of NJ Rifle & Pistol Clubs, which is the New Jersey affiliate of the NRA.
Greenwald is sponsoring the legislation (A-2006) approved by the Assembly in March to reduce the maximum capacity of ammunition magazines to 10 rounds. The bill is set for a Monday hearing in the Senate.
Greenwald released the following statement:
“Mr. Bach’s heartless and offensive comments about the parents who lost their children to senseless and tragic gun violence in Newtown are the lowest of the low. They are among the most shameful comments I have ever heard spoken in our public discourse in nearly two decades of public service.
“The families of Newtown have suffered a loss that no parent should ever have to face. They know firsthand how gun violence rips apart families and communities. Courageously, they have overcome this unbearable pain to advocate for a variety of common-sense public policies to reduce gun violence, including removing high-capacity magazines from our streets.
“Mr. Bach’s statements, which suggest that somehow these families should not have a voice in this debate, are truly offensive, shocking and wrong.
“I call on everyone to join me in condemning Mr. Bach’s disgusting remarks.”
Direct link to an article about Bach’s comments:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/05/01/head-of-nras-nj-affiliate-insults-newtown-famil/199122