Yet another betrayal: The vast majority of Rodney Frelinghuysen’s constituents strongly backs New Jersey’s strict controls on gun ownership. But Frelinghuysen once again put his party bosses first, voting yes on a measure that’s top-priority for the National Rifle Association.

The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act dramatically lowers the bar for carrying concealed guns everywhere in the United States. In bowing to the NRA’s and his Party leaders’ agenda, Frelinghuysen runs roughshod over our own state’s robust gun-safety laws, putting his constituents in peril. The act requires all states to recognize concealed-carry permits valid in any other state. Even from one of the 12  states such as Alaska and Mississippi that require NO permits, NO training whatsoever, and even from states that allow convicted violent stalkers from carrying weapons.

This act compels us to roll out the welcome mat for whoever conceal-carries-- teenagers, people with no safety training, who may never have even fired their weapon, and people with dangerous violent histories from other states to carry hidden loaded guns around our kids, in our restaurants, our sporting events, and our churches.

This legislation ignores both constituents concerns and statistical analysis on effective ways to diminish the plague of gun violence in our country.

The NRA has successfully stifled government research on gun violence prevention, and Frelinghuysen has been consistently complicit in supporting that gag-order in each Appropriation bill for the past 20 years, hoping and praying that the data, analysis and facts will not interfere with gun policy at the federal level.  Despite the difficulties, more long term studies into community gun safety have been completed recently, and their conclusions give the lie to the NRA’s fantasy-based refrain about “a good-guy with a gun.”

• Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas -- none of which requires a license, registration or permit to buy a gun --  rank within the top 10 for firearm mortalities.
• Violent crime increased year over year in states with Right to Carry Laws rising 14% after 10 years of the new legislation.
• States with the strongest laws had 6.64 fewer deaths per 100,000 residents than the states with the weakest.
• A meta-analysis of 16 studies examined the relationship between firearms and gun deaths. Gun ownership doubled the risk of homicide and tripled the risk of suicide.

The GOP’s actions are a direct assault on the safety of our community, and Frelinghuysen’s support is a complete betrayal of our communities. We at NJ 11th For Change demand leadership that puts our communities' well-being ahead of lobbyists and party. We need our Representatives to be strong and stand up for us.

 NJ 11th for Change

Frelinghuysen: A Failure of Leadership for New Jersey Taxpayers

A bill that will increase taxes for many – though not the wealthiest District 11 taxpayers –  could pass in a matter of days. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen could have lobbied to change the House tax bill’s most harmful provisions. Instead, he was the only N.J. Congressman to remain silent. He voted ‘no’ only after Republican leaders determined they didn’t need his vote.

• The best chance to stop this tax bill was when the House voted on a budget resolution in October. The bill included many of the worst parts of the final version, and yet Rodney was the only N.J. representative to vote for it. This bill passed by an extremely thin margin; if only two more representatives had voted NO, the resolution would have failed.
• He was silent on the provisions that in his words “could do much damage to the business climate in our state, a trend we must never tolerate, let alone encourage. … I simply could not support the legislation due to very negative impacts it would have on so many of my fellow New Jerseyans.” If that’s how he really felt, why was he the only member of the NJ delegation to allow this bill to pass through budget resolution, where he had the power to stop it?  And why did we have to wait until after the bill passed to state the obvious?

UPDATE 11/13/2017: According to The Hill, House Republicans say they have the votes they need to pass their tax package; a floor vote is expected in the House this week. Now is the time to tell Rodney Frelinghuysen what you think.

• D.C. office: (202) 225-5034
• Morristown office: (973) 984-0711
• Morristown fax: (973) 292-1569
• [email protected]

This week, the Republicans unveiled the House and Senate versions of competing tax bills. They share the same vision of what’s good for America: a fat, juicy tax cut for corporations and the biggest investors,  while waving away a loss of revenue so big it will rip a gaping hole in the budget and inevitably lead to cuts in programs, services, and institutions that benefit the rest of us.  Rewards in the tax code for “good behavior” -- like going to college or getting a graduate degree, buying a house, taking care of your health, or giving your money away, are all eliminated as if these no longer interest the majority party.

 In fact, a look at the tax cuts proposed across the next decade shows that they aren’t cuts at all for many Americans. By Year Ten, the evaluation of the House bill by the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank, shows the bill for what it is: a $900 billion corporate cut, a $400 billion break for non-corporate business owners, a $127 billion estate tax break. What little is left over falls squarely in the pockets of the richest 1%.

THERE’S NO 2018 WITHOUT 2017!  

If you’re feeling fed-up with the state of things, think LOCAL!  All across the district there are great local candidates looking to CHANGE the status quo.  And they are all working up the ticket as well, including a tight local district 25 race.  A sad fact is that turnout for midterms and off-year elections is very low.  Want to change that?  Want to get out and support some great candidates including some fellow NJ 11th For Change members?  Here’s your chance.

From today through election day VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED.  As a service for anyone looking to do some last-minute GOTV efforts, we’re allowing any candidate’s organization to post their contact info in this post.  These are not NJ11th For Change sponsored events.