(Basking Ridge, NJ) Tom Malinowski held a forum with local members of Moms Demand Action to discuss his efforts to move forward commonsense gun violence prevention legislation. Advocates had the opportunity to ask questions and share comments on the topic and hear more about how Congress is working to protect our kids. Malinowski pledged to support and build upon the recent Senate compromise on gun legislation. Despite the bipartisan nature of this legislation, the House Republican leadership is instructing its members to vote against it.
“There are politicians in this country who would rather let more children die than to impose a single commonsense obligation on gun owners,” said Malinowski. “Tom Kean Jr. made his choice long ago — to bend to the demands of the gun lobby against the wishes of the vast majority of New Jerseyans.”
Despite the massacre of 19 children in Uvalde, Texas, and the recent mass shooting in Buffalo, Tom Kean Jr. has remained silent—not even offering thoughts and prayers. On gun reform, as with every other issue, Kean is hiding from the people he claims to want to represent. As a State Senator in Trenton, he could not avoid casting votes, and his record was consistently out of step with New Jersey.
Some of Kean’s most egregious votes on gun violence prevention include:
- 2019: Kean voted against establishing a commission to approve “personalized” handguns, also known as “child proof guns” because they can only be fired by the owner, and requiring firearm retailers to sell personalized handguns.
- 2018: Kean voted against reducing the maximum capacity of ammunition rounds to 10 rounds.
- 2015: Kean voted against requiring firearm retailers sell personalized handguns that can only be fired by the owner.
- 2015: Kean voted against codifying stricter restrictions on who can carry a handgun in public.
- 2013: In the wake of Sandy Hook, Kean stalled Republican votes and then voted against an emergency bill, which would have created a new electronic system for instant background checks and mandated background checks for private gun sales in New Jersey.
- 2013: Kean voted against a 180-day window for persons to dispose of unlawfully possessed firearms.
- 2009: Kean voted against prohibiting individuals from buying more than one handgun in a calendar month
- 2002: Kean voted against the nation’s first “smart gun” bill, which required handguns sold to be childproofed as soon as the technology is available.