For NJ Residents For Action Against Gun Violence, 'Fight is Far From Over'

Despite the “disappointing” vote from Congress regarding gun control laws, according to NJ Residents For Action Against Gun Violence member Karen Egert, “This fight is far from over.”

At an open forum at Temple Emanuel on May 1, a coalition of speakers presented information on gun violence and gun control laws and encouraged the audience to act.

Speakers included Former NJ Governor Jim Florio, Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr, Reverend Dr. Raymond Roberts, Sheriff Ralph Froehlich, Assemblyman Joe Cryan, Assemblywoman Linda Stender, Michael Pohle (the father of Michael Pohle Jr. who was killed in the 2007 Virginia Tech Shooting), Reverend Robert Moore and Rabbi Douglas Sagal.

According to Moore, a mass shooting occurs in the U.S. every month, and according to Cryan, this has totaled to 3,375 deaths since the Newtown tragedy.

Moore stated that after a shooting in Australia, the Australian government now requires that two people vouch for every person looking to purchase a gun. He said that since this has been enacted there has not been one mass shooting, and he believes that the U.S. should do likewise.

In the past weeks, according to Stender, bills in favor of electronic background checks, photo ID requirements, and permit information being put on an individual’s license have been moving through Congress. She added that she supports a bill for prohibiting gun sales to everyone on the federal “No Fly” list. The bill was proposed by the NRA who is now against it.

Florio, who according to Egert changed the course of NJ gun laws during his term as governor, expressed his reasons for supporting anti-gun laws. “This is not about the Second Amendment,” he said. “Is it unreasonable to be concerned that 40 percent of gun owners did not go through a background check? Is it unreasonable for a hunter not to have a military gun? . . . A police prosecutor [once] testified that he wouldn’t send people into certain areas [of the city] because the bad guys had more fire power than they did!”

He urged his listeners: “[The gun industry is] about profit . . . Don’t wait until the next massacre. The time to act is now.”

Froelich also expressed anger over a lack of anti-gun legislation: “It angers me how ignorant people can be . . . [an assault weapon] is not a machine that you play with or go hunting with . . . it’s a killing machine . . . it is not a toy! . . . Shame on us that our legislature can’t stand up and say NO!”

Roberts, who has a Ph.D in history and theology agreed that this fight is not about the Second Amendment. He explained that most people think that the amendment is about citizens being able to protect themselves from a tyrannical government, but the real purpose is to protect against external forces.

Said Roberts: “Part of what we’re up against is that our culture is so infused with how our country has been shaped by guns . . . [but] if this idea about what the Second Amendment is about takes hold and we don’t challenge it, we’ll end up like Afghanistan.”

Many of the speakers, including Pohle, expressed their support for gun use in terms of protecting the U.S., not for arming every individual.

Pohle, whose son Mike was an athlete and science major at Virginia Tech, said that he first heard about the shooting while he was on lunch break. After calling his son and not receiving an answer, Pohle drove for seven hours to the school, repeatedly calling his son about every thirty seconds—and every time getting only a voicemail.

“When I arrived . . .  [I was] directed to a hotel . . . there were more news cameras there than at the Super Bowl . . . microphones were stuffed in our faces, and we didn’t know what was going on,” he explained. Finally, Pohle learned that his son, who did not die instantly, had been shot three times in the head.

Since the family’s loss, Pohle and his wife have met multiple families involved in shootings such as Columbine, Aurora, Oak Creek and Newtown. “We have begun to band into a force,” he said. “Do not give up and do not be silent.”

Rabbi Sagal, who allowed the NJ Residents For Action to use the Temple for the presentation, closed by quoting from the book of Genesis, in which Cain kills his brother Abel. Sagal said that when Cain asked God if he was his brother’s keeper, there was no answer, but the rest of the Bible “is a resounding ‘YES.’”

“When people have nothing to say to one another, that’s when things fall apart,” Sagal stated. “[But] I believe that we have something to say to each other and that together we can find a way to reduce violence.”

A protest held by the Coalition for Peace Action will be held outside of the state Capital building on May 11.

Additionally, Newtown residents have invited the public to attend a forum entitled “What’s Next for Gun Legislation in America… Understanding and Uniting the Broad Middle” on May 7 at 7:30 p.m., at Newtown High School Lecture Hall, 12 Berkshire Rd, Sandy Hook, CT. The event will also be streamed live on www.newtownaction.org.

For contact information for congressman visit www.njleg.org.