Governor Chris Christie Allows .50 Caliber Rifles

Washington Post New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) late Friday vetoed a bill to ban a powerful model of assault weapon that he initially advocated in the wake of last December’s elementary school shootings in Newtown, Conn. The bill that passed New Jersey’s Democratic legislature would have prohibited the Barrett .50 caliber long-range rifle. Although Christie this spring proposed a ban on future sales of the firearm, he vetoed the ultimate bill because he said it went too far, requiring residents who already own the rifle to give theirs up. In a veto message to the General Assembly, Christie wrote that the bill “will not further our collective fight against crime, but serve only to confuse law-abiding gun owners with the threat of imprisonment for lawful recreation. I cannot approve of that result.”