LG Candidate Allen’s Deeply Out of Touch Gun Comments Echo NRA Talking Points

Allen Open to Allowing Concealed Carry in NJ, Parrots NRA’s “Good Guy With a Gun” Talking Point

TRENTON, NJ — With fallout continuing from Republican Lt. Governor candidate Senator Diane Allen’s recent extreme right-wing remarks, one area that has sparked further concern is her incendiary comments on guns. Senator Allen not only signaled openness to allowing people to carry concealed handguns in the state, which is currently outlawed, she also embraced a dangerous trope commonly associated with the gun lobby and the National Rifle Association: the “Good Guy with a Gun.”

Allen said: “I look down in Texas, where as you know, I think concealed and maybe even unconcealed weapons are allowed, and these people that go into churches and schools and start shooting, there’s usually somebody there that has a gun that can take them out.”

This thoroughly debunked theory is a dangerous lie used by the gun lobby to deter gun safety laws, putting profits ahead of peoples’ lives. In reality, studies have shown that concealed carry laws lead to higher rates of violent crime and gun ownership is correlated with higher homicide rates.

“The last thing New Jersey needs is extreme right-wing leadership that embraces NRA-backed policies like weakening our state’s strong gun safety laws, and that’s exactly what Senator Allen’s comments indicate a Ciattarelli Administration would do,” said NJDSC Chairman LeRoy J. Jones, Jr. “This ‘good guy with a gun’ theory that Senator Allen supports is a myth and would only lead to more violence and make all of our communities less safe. New Jersey’s gun safety laws are a national model and Governor Murphy and Democratic legislators will continue working to make them even stronger, offering a clear contrast to the Ciattarelli-Allen Republican brand of extreme right-wing politics that would put our families in danger.”