by Phil Stilton

CHRIS CHRISTIE ON REPEAL OF NEW JERSEY’S ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN: It’s Crazy. It’s Dangerous. It’s Radical. They Must Be Stopped.

ANKENY, IOWA-Despite being Governor of the state habitually ranked at the bottom of the list by gun advocacy groups, Chris Christie took it personally when he was called “anti-gun” by an audience member.

“How are you going to [get] New Jersey gun owners to think you will be anything but a President Michael Bloomberg,” the man asked the governor.

Christie instead blamed New Jersey’s over-the-top gun laws on the Democratic legislature which he said was responsible for the state’s anti-gun laws.

“Does New Jersey have a lot of difficult gun laws,” Christie said. “They were all signed before I was governor.”

“I’ve agreed with gun owners in New Jersey,” Christie said.

Not so, according to the Governor’s own past as a young aspiring Freeholder looking to win a state assembly seat in 1995.

Christie campaigned with Richard Merkt in that election and they ran on a solid platform to retain the state’s ban on assault rifles, which remains to this day, one of the strictest pieces of anti-gun legislation in America.

Christie and Merkt lost that primary in a bad way.

Here is a campaign mailer for their campaign.

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Phil Stilton is the Editor and Publisher of Shore News Network, an independent digital newsroom providing original reporting on New Jersey, national news, government, public policy, public safety, courts, and community affairs.

As founder of the publication, Stilton leads editorial strategy, investigative reporting, and daily newsroom operations while overseeing coverage that reaches millions of readers annually.

With extensive experience covering municipal government, county government, state legislatures, elections, law enforcement, emergency management, and public records, Stilton specializes in translating complex government actions into clear, factual reporting. His work frequently relies on primary source documents, including court filings, legislation, public meeting records, election finance disclosures, government databases, police reports, and Freedom of Information and Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests. He has reported extensively on local government accountability, taxpayer spending, campaign finance, public corruption investigations, infrastructure, public safety, and the policies affecting New Jersey residents.

Under Stilton's editorial leadership, Shore News Network has grown into one of New Jersey's largest independent digital news organizations, publishing thousands of original news articles each year while providing breaking news coverage, investigative reporting, and analysis across state and local government. The publication's reporting is routinely sourced from official government agencies, public officials, court records, and firsthand documentation, with a commitment to transparency, attribution, corrections when warranted, and clearly distinguishing factual reporting from opinion.

Stilton's journalism follows established newsroom standards emphasizing accuracy, verification, fairness, and accountability. Every effort is made to verify information through official records and multiple reliable sources before publication. His reporting is intended to provide readers with timely, well-documented information that helps them understand the issues affecting their communities, while maintaining editorial independence from political parties, government agencies, advocacy organizations, and commercial interests.

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