Chatham Boro Passes Resolution Calling For Gun Reform

CHATHAM BORO, NJ — The Chatham Borough council unanimously passed a resolution calling for "common sense" gun control reform at Monday night's meeting.

The resolution asks congress and the state legislature to pass a number of reform and control measures, including a assault firearms ban, raising the legal age to buy a gun to 21, and to increase the stringency of background checks.

"Thile the framers of the Constitution intended the Second Amendment to protect the citizenry from national tyranny; they could not have foreseen the advancement of the lethality of certain weaponry, including modern-day assault-type weapons and related accessories typically utilized by military and law enforcement personnel in combat or similar situations," the resolution reads in part. It references the number of school shootings that have happened since Sandy Hook in 2012 (239, according to Education Week statistics the council cites) as a need for the resolution.

Copies of the resolution will be sent to President Trump, Gov. Murphy, federal and local representatives and Jill Critchley Weber, President of the Board ofEducation for the School District of the Chathams.

The resolution calls on Congress and the state legislature to pass the following measures:

• Enactment of a ban on the sale, importation, transfer, and ownership of assault firearms and accessories, such as large capacity magazines and bump stocks
• Adoption of requirements for more stringent background checks for all gun purchases, including private transactions and gun show sales.
• Appropriations of funding for additional research into “smart gun” technology.
• Appropriations to provide grants and low interest loans to school districts for the design and implementation of improved physical security systems and procedures at schools nationwide in accordance with “best practice” standards.
• Reversal of the “Dickey Amendment” (1996) so as to allow the Centers for Disease Control and other federal agencies tasked with the protection and promotion of public health to fund gun-related research for the purpose of providing policymakers with up-to-date data about the causes of gun violence and how it can be prevented or reduced.
• An increase in the minimum age for purchase of ANY type of firearm in the United States to twenty-one years.
• Implementation of an extensive buy-back program focused specifically on reducing the excessive number of military style semi-automatic weaponry currently in circulation across the country.

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