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A crowd of gun advocates and opponents gather at the Statehouse in Trenton on April 30 for a New Jersey Senate Law and Public Safety Committee hearing.

(Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — It's the Great Garden State Gun Giveaway.

Last month, Democratic lawmakers sent Gov. Chris Christie a stack of gun-control bills that would do everything from banning the .50-caliber Barrett assault rifle to creating a more stringent photo ID system.

One New Jersey gun-rights group has come up with a novel approach to drum up opposition to the measures: urge Christie to veto the bills and get a chance to win a free gun.

"We are trying to energize people to voice their opinions to Gov. Christie and tell him what he should do with the gun bills on his desk, and that’s pretty much get rid of most of it," said Frank Fiamingo, the founder and president the New Jersey Second Amendment Society.

News of the giveaway drew a sharp rebuke from Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, whose legislative district includes Trenton, a city under siege by gun violence.

"It’s insulting, ludicrous," Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) said following a news conference in the Statehouse where she and other gun-control advocates urged Christie to sign the bills. "Maybe they are emboldened by the fact that this governor has yet to sign the bills, but we need to be proactive in the state and protect our residents."

Founded in 2010, the New Jersey Second Amendment Society has joined with the national Firearms Policy Coalition to promote the "Stop The Gun Control Madness Giveaway." Contestants must register with the national organization and send the group's form letter to Christie for a chance to win one of three guns: a handgun, rifle or shotgun.

"Fighting gun control has never been easier or more rewarding!" reads the national group’s website.

The contest ends Wednesday, and the drawing will likely take place Aug. 14, according to the posted rules. Officials with the Firearms Policy Coalition, which is running the contest, did not return requests for comment.

The flurry of gun legislation in New Jersey and in Washington was touched off by the shooting deaths of 20 elementary-school children in Newtown, Conn. in December.

New Jersey Democrats responded with a package of bills that aims to curb gun violence by strengthening background checks and penalties while giving law enforcement and the public more tools to combat straw purchasing, where people legally buy guns and sell them to criminals.

"This is no-brainer legislation," Watson Coleman said today. "We are asking the governor to come back from wherever you are and sign these bills on behalf of the state of New Jersey."

But critics say the package of bills only penalizes law-abiding gun owners and will do nothing to reduce violence. They argue that the state already has some of the toughest gun laws in the state.

"The guy in Connecticut was disturbed," Fiamingo said. "If an arsonist lights fire to a home, you don’t blame the gas can or the car he used to drive there, you blame the person."

Christie — who is out of the state — has given little indication as to what he will do. So far, he has acted on one bill, vetoing a measure to ban the state pension fund from investing in companies that manufacture or sell assault rifles for civilian use. That leaves 15 bills awaiting his action, which is likely to take place next month.

"New Jersey already has the second-strongest guns laws in the country, and in April, Governor Christie proposed his own comprehensive and responsible plan to reduce gun violence and help make our streets and state safer," Christie spokesman Collin Reed said. "He will review the bills passed by the Legislature, and announce a decision within the allotted time in the legislative process."

Gun rights advocates have also taken to Twitter to urge Christie to veto the gun-control package.

In the past 30 days, there have been more than 8,100 tweets that included Christie's Twitter tag — @GovChristie — and the word gun, the overwhelming majority from gun-rights supporters, according to the social media analytical site Topsy.

"Voters throughout the US are watching @GovChristie’s reaction to @NJSenDems attempt to criminalize NJ GunOwners. #NJ2AS #2A," a person who goes by the name of njmorrisvoter tweeted last week.

Other hot topics in New Jersey are generating less Twitter traffic.

In the past 30 days, there have been more than 1,300 tweets with Christie’s Twitter handle and the word "gay" as supporters of gay marriage make a new push to have it legalized in New Jersey, and 191 tweets with the word "Sandy," according to Topsy.

Fiamingo said the governor, a potential presidential contender in 2016, has not reached out to his group.

"He has said that he governs a state where the Democrats control the Legislature and he’s not going to bang his head against the wall on gun rights, so we’ve been ignored," he said. "But the governor should know that voters in Montana are not he same as those in Jersey."

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