Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie based his campaign on the New Hampshire vote, but with gun activists on his back regarding his policy on this issue, Christie could lose the trust gained, says NBC News.
Does Christie have something for New Hampshire?
Chris Christie visited New Hampshire more than any other Republican candidate, hoping to get the state’s vote. He even received the endorsment of Union-Leader, a influential newspaper in New Hampshire, but one strategy could see his hard work go to waste. Gun activists warn that if the New Jersey governor gains traction, his record on their issue could derail his campaign, confirms the same source.
New Hampshire is a state with some of the loosest gun laws in the country, while New Jersey, where Chirs Christie is governor, has strict laws when it comes to gun control. Christie even received a warning to change his position on guns from Mitch Kopacz, the head of the pro-gun group Gun Owners of New Hampshire. “It will finish his candidacy.”, stated Kopacz, quoted by NBC News.
Chris Christie got 5 percent in New Hampshire in recent polls, but if we look at his relationships with gun groups, he might lose what he already gained. In 2013, the National Rifle Association gave him a “C” rating and the group did not invite him to their annual conference last spring.
Against firearms since 2003
This trust issue has its starting point in 2003 when Christie, on his political career debut, said that his desire to repeal the assault weapons ban “motivated me to get into this race for the Senate.” He continued to say that “no one needs a semiautomatic assault weapon,” adding that there are “too many firearms in our communities”.
In 2009, there where talks in Congress for the the “right-to-carry reciprocity” bill to pass, but Chris Christie, running for governor, opposed. “I believe that each state should have the right to make firearms laws as they see fit,” said Christie at that time.
New Jersey ranks at the top by gun control groups, with a grade of “A-” and the third toughest gun laws in the country. “He has some of the most restrictive firearm laws in the country in his state and he has to fix that,”, said Mitch Kopacz about Christie, according to NBC News.
Firearms are something usual in New Hampshire
On the other side, New Hampshire received a “D-” from The Brady Campaign. In the state, everybody knows how to shoot a gun before they learn how to walk. “All persons have the right to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves, their families, their property and the state.”, says in the state’s constitution.
“It’s not just gun activists that get fired up, rank-and-file and even the establishment Republicans in New Hampshire own guns. It’s a rural state. It’s part of the culture.”, stated Ryan Williams, a political strategist who has worked for many New Hampshire candidates.
