Dear State Assemblyman Carroll,

 

I am deeply concerned about attempts to pass new laws aimed at limiting

my Second Amendment rights. Focusing on 100 million law-abiding

citizens like me, who use firearms -- including modern sporting rifles

(MSRs) -- every day for hunting, recreational shooting and home defense,

is unproductive and unconstitutional. Lets prosecute those who abuse

our existing laws instead.

 

MSRs (so-called assault weapons) continue to be vilified in the

press. While they may look like military rifles, they function no

differently from any other civilian semi-automatic firearm.

Semi-automatic technology has been available for decades and is the

operating system for most of the firearms in existence today. They fire

only one round with each trigger pull. The design for MSRs, developed

in 1957, is the ArmaLite Rifle; the term A/R is its abbreviation it

does not stand for assault rifle.

 

A comprehensive 2003 study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

examined 51 gun-control studies, including the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban

(AWB). It was unable to show any crime reduction associated with gun

control. Another study, commissioned by Congress, found that bans were

not effective in reducing crime because "the banned weapons and

magazines were never used in more than a modest fraction of all gun

murders."

 

Since the AWB expired in 2004, the nations violent crime rate has

continued to drop by 17 percent and is now at its lowest levels since

the early 1970s, despite the rising of gun ownership, including MSR's,

to an all time high.

 

The vast majority of firearms used in crimes are obtained illegally, via

theft or illegal transfer. This is not surprising since criminals don't

follow the law, particularly when the laws are not enforced. As your

constituent I urge you to make me safer while protecting my

constitutional rights. Focus on real crime-control measures such as:

 

* Ensure that all states submit appropriate court data for individuals

adjudicated unfit to possess firearms into the National Instant Criminal

Background Check System (NICS) database. These are not private medical

records, but official court documents, therefore they do not infringe on

privacy rights, a common but incorrect argument.

 

* Enforce the existing laws already at our disposal, such as:

 

- Use the existing 10 year / $250,000 perjury penalty associated with

"Straw Purchasing." Even better, lets make straw purchasing its own

offense.

 

- Use existing federal laws to prosecute gun-related crimes, ensuring

that criminals don't plead down to lesser offenses. Armed robbery

should never become robbery because a busy court docket allowed a plea

deal. When Richmond, VA, did this under a program called Project

Exile, crime dropped 65 percent. Criminals respond to risk.

 

- Promote education to ensure firearms are safely stored away from

unauthorized users.

 

These are simple, noncontroversial, concrete steps we can take today

that will not infringe on anyones privacy or constitutional rights.

 

Lets focus on smart, data-driven solutions to get to the root of our

crime problems.

 

Here is the email response from Assemblyman Carroll I received today!

 

Let me take the opportunity to thank you for taking the time to call me on

the subject of Second Amendment rights.

 

Among the first bills I ever introduced was a proposal to bring NJ into

the modern era and permit concealed carry. Naturally, given the present,

anti-freedom majority, that bill continues to languish.

 

A noted political extremist once opined, "never let a good crisis go to

waste". Whenever some deeply disturbed individual goes on a rampage, the

cries go up to restrict the freedom of the 99.999999% of the people who

don't abuse their Constitutional rights. While the shootings at Sandy

Hook were a horror, not a single one of the new restrictions presently

proposed would have had the slightest impact. The massacre is being

cynically employed by the enemies of freedom as an excuse to advance

their ideological agenda,.

 

Simple logic demonstrates that freedom does not cause any shootings.

While it seems obvious that we need to pay greater attention to those

with serious mental instabilities, that can be accomplished without

imposing upon law abiding citizens.

 

Of course, the advocates of freedom face an administration in DC

actively hostile to freedom, a media which simply echoes their talking

points, and an often uneducated public. (One poll showed that a majority

favored a ban on semi-automatic weapons, although they have no clue what

that phrase actually means.) That means that freedom advocates need to

patiently explain to an often uneducated public why anti-freedom

proposals simply make no sense.

I've been doing my best. I appeared on NJTV on this subject; you can

find the interview here.

http://www.njtvonlin...ll-says-nothing

-could-have-prevented-sandy-hook-massacre/.

 

Again, I appreciate your note. Rest assured that I will continue to

fight for defend and expand freedom for as long as it is my privilege to

serve.

 

Michael Patrick Carroll

Great response! Good to see that we have at least some folks on the side of the people, in NJ!

Holy Shnikies!!! A positive response!

These are the type of people that need to be kept in office and supported as well as replacing the ones that don't think like this and replacing them with one that do.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

My hat is off to you for a very good letter. Nicely done! The response is encouraging and appreciated. I won't forget his name.

Michael Patrick Carrol is one of the good guys, and avidly pro gun. Had a few opportunities to meet with him at NJ2AS events before. Super Awesome guy and a 2a supporter.

Very well stated letter and a very nice response.

Michael Patrick Carrol is a true friend to us in the pro 2A community. On rally day when the power went out on the audio system, he was the one who made sure the building had no objections to our plugging into power indoors.