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One gun-rights advocate argues Newark residents will see less crime-scene tape if the city repeals "its draconian gun laws and allow law-abiding residents access to the tools of self-defense."

( Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger )

By Danielle Thompson

New Jersey faces an epidemic of violent crime, threatening the safety of each New Jersey resident. Set party affiliation aside for a minute and think of the severity of the homicide rate in New Jersey.

According to a Jan. 1 Star-Ledger report, Newark has seen its murder rate spike, with 111 murders in 2013. To put this in perspective, that's the highest murder rate Newark has seen since 1990. For cities with a population from 100,000 to 499,000, Newark ranked seventh for highest crime rate in 2013. Newark's murder and crime rate have consistently remained high over the years and the solutions being implemented prove to be drastically ineffective.

Current attempts to lower the crime rate have failed. Newark’s law enforcement confiscated about 1,000 guns and collected about 1,700 firearms from a gun-buyback program in early 2013. Newark then proceeded to experience the highest murder rate the city has seen in years.

The definition of a criminal is a person who disregards the law. Strict gun control laws and gun-buyback programs don’t affect criminals’ behavior. The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

While Newark’s solution for curbing the murder and crime rate is restricting and banning guns from law-abiding citizens, the real solution, yet to be enacted, is allowing law-abiding citizens to be armed. Law-abiding residents must be able to take responsibility for their own personal safety.

A city similar to Newark with an astronomically high murder rate is Detroit. James Craig was appointed as Detroit’s police chief and has since changed the city’s tune, advocating for citizens to arm themselves, and generously granting concealed pistol licenses (CPL) to Detroit residents.

"There’s a number of CPL holders running around the city of Detroit," Craig said last month. "I think it acts as a deterrent. Good Americans with CPLs translates into crime reduction."

The Detroit News reported that city police records show 73 justifiable homicides since 2011. Most of these incidents involved armed citizens defending themselves from a criminal intent on doing harm.

The time is right for Newark to repeal its draconian gun laws and allow law-abiding residents access to the tools of self-defense.

Repealing anti-gun legislation and expanding access to self-defense tools are the keys to creating a safe environment. An armed society is a polite society.

In 2013, Gov. Chris Christie furthered oppressive gun laws in New Jersey by signing into law a host of gun control bills making it harder for citizens to exercise their Second Amendment right.

Christie, with the stroke of a pen, keeps taking steps backward in combating the violence in Newark, in defiance of the members of pro-gun rights organizations in New Jersey.

The organization working hardest to restore and protect the people’s liberties throughout New Jersey is the National Association for Gun Rights. NAGR works on the front lines of the gun rights fight in New Jersey and stands behind the notion that America is still the land of free people.

NAGR champions legislation granting law-abiding citizens the right to carry a firearm without having to obtain a government-mandated permission slip or undergoing burdensome and expensive training to shoot like an Olympian. This legislation is called Constitutional Carry and is fully practiced in several states across the country.

Recently, there have been multiple states across the country that introduced a bill for Constitutional Carry, as states are fed up with high crime and defenseless citizens, and realize the government cannot protect its citizens in every instance..

Repealing draconian gun laws and criminal safe zones are the solutions needed to make Newark a safer city for the public. The citizens of Newark deserve to have their Second Amendment rights upheld and to be able to protect themselves from criminal activity.

Danielle Thompson is press secretary for National Association for Gun Rights.

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