An unidentified citizen called out New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) for availing himself of armed protection even as he issued a coronavirus lockdown order that resulted in the suspension of gun sales in the state.

The citizen said, “Your executive actions closed down gun stores, saying they’re ‘non-essential.’ The poorest minorities living in the most dangerous cities with the highest crime rates now have absolutely no way of buying a firearm. I’ve lived in Newark, so I understand this first hand.”

He asked, “If less guns reduce crime, will you give up your personal bodyguards?”

The governor replied by intimating that he and the citizen had a philosophical difference in the role guns play, with the governor believing “a safer society has fewer guns, not more guns. And the guns that do exist are in the hands of the right people — particularly trained members of law enforcement.”

The governor then giggled, referenced an armed law enforcement member next to him, and said, “It is what it is.”

On March 24, 2020, Breitbart News reported that the Second Amendment Foundation was suing Murphy over the order that resulted in the closure of gun stores statewide. Because of that same order, Patrick Callahan, State Director of Emergency Management, announced that the state’s background check system would be shut down as well, thereby guaranteeing no more gun sales in the state at this time.