The New Jersey contingent of the national organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns has sent a letter, signed by 33 New Jersey mayors, to Governor Christie today, asking him and the NJ SAFE Task Force to recommend passage of key gun bills pending in the U.S. Congress and advocate for stronger national gun laws. A sharp-eyed Baristanet reader wondered why Montclair Township Mayor Robert Jackson’s name was not on the letter next to the names of the mayors of West Orange and Maplewood.
We contacted Jackson, who explained that his office has been flooded with requests for his signature on dozens of petitions, letters and other support documents in the last few months. “It’s becoming hard to keep track of them or even tell them apart. My support is there. It’s more important what we do than that I sign everything. My commitment is clear. Our governing body’s actions speak for themselves.”
He confirmed that he’s a member of the mayoral organization, and pointed to his strong support of initiating the County’s gun buy back program (which takes place tomorrow and Saturday in Montclair), as well as his active participation in a number of coalitions in support of protecting citizens from illegal guns.
There are 565 municipalities in New Jersey.
We need more laws.
Mayor Jackson’s response indicates a clear lack of competence and serious engagement by someone holding such a high public office. Not to engage or even be aware of the correspondences from those he has an obligation to represent is indicative of serious flaws in performing his responsibilities.
Contrary to what Mayor Jackson states, his support was not there. His signature was not on a letter, that he now claims he fully supports. More importantly, this person was elected to public office and now shows little interest or care for public accountability.
So we are all clear, NJ and NY both have strict gun laws. Could they be tighter? Yes but at least in this area back ground checks are done and it takes a few months to get a firearm license. I am more baffled why different states have different rules about owning a gun. If there is one thing the federal government should set it is standard gun laws for all states. A letter signed by Mayor Jackson is not going to move the needle one way or the other.
montyman: Your statement misses the point: “A letter signed by Mayor Jackson is not going to move the needle one way or the other.” No one action by any member of our community is going to make us safer or reduce the enormous level of violence in our society. We all need to work together to do this, contributing small and individual efforts to significantly reduce violence, including gun violence.
The real problem here is Mayor Jackson’s behavior and attitude. He is negligent regarding his responsibilities, not even bothering to read letters from his colleagues or from his constituents. Not only has he shown himself to be incompetent regarding his public responsibilities, he then goes further here in responding to Baristanet expressing contempt toward those who try to engage him. The Montclair Mayor cannot keep track of “dozens of” official correspondences.
Whatever his public opinion may be on gun control, this is a major issue for Montclair and our society today. “It’s more important what we do than that I sign everything. My commitment is clear. Our governing body’s actions speak for themselves.” Mayor Jackson’s commitment is all but clear. Signing a petition signed by many other NJ majors would have been a clear action. The gun buy-back program was initiated by a private citizen, without further support by the Mayor or Council. It was then taken up by the County. The Mayor is disingenuous claiming credit here.
Major Jackson should state publicly his position on gun control in Montclair.