(TRENTON) – While New Jersey has the sixth-lowest gun death rate in the nation, more than 400 New Jersey residents are still killed with a gun each year, according to the Giffords Law Center. In 2020, Newark was poised to hold a multi-state, first of its kind, summit on gun safety issues, but the summit was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To support the Governor’s request to reconvene the “States for Gun Safety Summit,” Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Hunterdon, Mercer) sponsors a resolution (AR-277) to call for the summit to reconvene as soon as it is safe for participants to attend, taking into consideration the ongoing pandemic. The resolution was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Monday.
Upon committee approval of the measure, Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson issued the following statement:
“The gun violence epidemic in the United States needs direct attention and we must act to mitigate it. There has been inaction from the federal government to target these issues for far too long. It is time that we address this problem in a greater capacity. Bringing together governors from around the country and Puerto Rico will certainly bring more attention to this epidemic