New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa (R), who Gov. Chris Christie (R) just announced will temporarily fill the U.S. Senate vacancy left by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), supports a gun buyback program that took thousands of guns off of New Jersey\u2019s streets and he says that reinstating the death penalty in his state is not a \u201cgood idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chiesa indicated his opposition to the death penalty in an interview with New Jersey\u2019s public media network. While the incoming senator explained that he supported the death penalty when he was younger, he now opposes it because \u201cin the one instance where you\u2019re not right about that, there\u2019s no way in any way to remedy that decision and the consequences of administering that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christie\u2019s choice for the U.S. Senate is also a strong supporter of a gun buyback program, testifying before a state legislative committee that \u201cgun buybacks are helping to make New Jersey safer, and because they\u2019re paid for with criminal forfeiture funds, they don\u2019t cost the taxpayers a penny.\u201d The state\u2019s buyback program, which Chiesa described as \u201ca valuable part of a broader anti-gun-violence strategy,\u201d netted 10,000 firearms as of last month.<\/p>\n