BY REBECCA SHEEHAN

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Since the tragedy that struck Newtown, Connecticut this past year, many concerned parties have sprung up in the Garden State looking for the Governor to enforce stricter gun laws throughout the state. Most concerned gun-control advocates are just simply looking out for its residents – and a little help from Governor Chris Christie will definitely help out.

As a state in 2011, we saw 380 murders with 264 those crimes having used a handgun, shotguns were used in five murders, and a rifle was used in one, according to the state’s Uniform Crime Report.  And of those murders, 57 percent took place in the state’s six largest urban centers: Camden, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Newark, Paterson and Trenton.

“Trenton needs help,” Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, said to The Record, stating the city of Trenton has seen more than 20 murders this year alone. “I implore Governor Christie to get serious about the terrible impact that gun violence is having on our cities and sign these bills.”

And although the 12 gun bills sitting on the Governor’s desk may decrease crime in the violence heavy areas of the state, many residents are realistic to the fact that the laws may not work in their favor.

“Though I can live with tougher laws aimed at reducing illegal gun trafficking and illegal gun use, I don’t buy into the notion that increasing penalties will significantly reduce the occurrences of urban gun violence,” said Kenneth McDaniel, vice president of Paterson’s City Council, who believes the underlying problems need to be fixed first.

“Proper education and gainful employment tends to spur non-violent lifestyles,” he continued. “Let’s invest in urban education. Let’s put our unemployed and underemployed citizens to work. By doing these things we reduce the propensity for street crime and related violence.”

Currently over a dozen gun bills have flooded Christie’s desk and are waiting for his immediate action. If signed by Christie the laws will help: impose tougher criminal penalties for people convicted of gun trafficking, require prospective gun buyers to attend a training class, prevent people on the federal terror watch list from buying a gun, create a commission to study the causes of violence, and require people who want to buy ammunition to have a firearms ID card or permit.

“I’m plowing my way through them. So I’ll have answers probably in the next week or two about all of them,” Christie said.