Newark Star-Ledger: Capt. Mark Kelly to Gov. Chris Christie: Sign centerpiece gun bill, now

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Gov. Chris Christie and I have much in common.

We’re both straight-talking, no-nonsense sons of New Jersey who grew up in neighboring towns. We’ve devoted years to public service and protecting American communities. We have wives and kids we love dearly. I haven’t always agreed with everything he’s said or done, but I’d like to think we share a belief that we must prevent gun violence and also protect gun rights – and that there are moderate, common-sense policies that do both.

That’s why I’m asking Gov. Christie to sign the “centerpiece” gun safety bill sitting on his desk. The bill is simple and sensible: It would expand background checks on gun purchases and safety training for gun owners, and tighten penalties for letting guns fall into the hands of children. These basic measures are supported by just about every group you could think of, gun owners and non-gun owners, Democrats and Republicans and independents, business owners and faith leaders, law enforcement and medical professionals.

More than 3,200 New Jersey members of Americans for Responsible Solutions, the group I founded in January with my wife, Gabby Giffords, signed a petition delivered to the governor on Friday that asked him to make the centerpiece bill law. Polls show that 96 percent of New Jerseyans – and 95 percent of gun households in the state – support expanding background checks to keep guns away from those who shouldn’t have them. I was raised in West Orange, near the governor’s hometown of Livingston, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen 96 percent of people in Jersey support anything except Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen.

Gov. Christie did the right thing late last week when he signed other gun safety measures passed by the legislature, including one that would bar people on the federal terror watch list from buying guns. (Yes, that’s right – did you know there’s a loophole, supported by the gun lobby, making it possible for suspected terrorists to own guns?)

But now the governor is facing intense pressure from the very same powerful gun lobby – including extreme gun groups threatening his presidential hopes in the early primary state of New Hampshire – to veto the centerpiece bill. He has a choice to make: Will he listen to a handful of lobbyists who value profits over public safety, or to thousands of New Jerseyans who understand that basic measures like this will protect our families without infringing on our rights?

Gabby and I are both gun owners. She grew up out west in Arizona, where guns are a way of life. I was raised on the other side of the country by two cops in West Orange. Gabby and I support the Second Amendment, but our lives have been devastated by gun violence. We know the tragedy that follows when guns fall into the hands of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill. I assume Gov. Christie, a former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, knows this, too. He worked hard for his well-deserved reputation punishing corrupt officials who put the public in harm’s way, who showed they were unworthy of the responsibility entrusted to them.

As a gun owner, a New Jersey native, the son of two former police officers, and the husband of a brave survivor of a vicious shooting, I’m asking Gov. Christie to once again do the same thing and keep the public safe. Gun ownership is a cherished Second Amendment right. Respect for that right demands its responsible exercise by keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people, training to use your gun safely, and protecting children. The gun safety centerpiece bill protects the rights of responsible gun owners and protects our communities from those who are irresponsible – or worse.

Gov. Christie has shown a willingness before to put our home state ahead of national party politics. Gabby and I, standing with tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, are counting on him now. He is New Jersey’s protector-in-chief. He should sign the centerpiece bill.