The Latest On What We Know About Jersey City Shooting :: 12/11/2019

By now, most of you are aware about the shooting in Jersey City, NJ yesterday. If not, Cam did a report on the early information. That was an initial report, of course, and things can change as more information becomes available.

So, let’s get into what we know so far.

For one thing, six people in total are dead. As Cam noted, three civilians and a police officer are among the slain. The two gunmen are also dead, though I don’t think any of us will lose a moment’s sleep over them.

However, it also appears the two gunmen may have targeted the business they holed up in.

Police in the New York metropolitan area were put on high alert to protect Jewish neighborhoods after an hours-long gunbattle with two men around a Jersey City kosher market that killed six people, authorities said.

The police shoot-out with two men armed with high-powered rifles erupted after midday on Tuesday in Jersey City, New Jersey’s second-largest municipality directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan. The six dead included three civilians, one police officer and both gunmen, authorities said.

Jersey City police said initially that the gunmen’s motive was not known. But Mayor Steven Fulop said on Tuesday night that two gunmen had deliberately targeted the Jewish JC Kosher Supermarket where the four-hour gunbattle played out.

“Based on our initial investigation (which is ongoing) we now believe the active shooters targeted the location they attacked,” Fulop said in a tweet.

This appears to run counter to earlier reports that the two men fled from police conducting a murder investigation. It’s possible that both are somehow accurate, but that seems unlikely at this point.

Right now, we know little about how the gunmen and their motivations, much less how the obtained their firearms. Yet that’s hardly a reason for anti-gunners to go on ahead and beat the anti-gun drum, now is it?

Tuesday’s Jersey City shootout that took the lives of a police officer and five others immediately sparked a new debate for legislation to restrict some access to firearms.

“America needs sensible gun safety legislation now,” said Rep Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th Dist. “This does not have to be our reality.”

Rep. Andy Kim, D-3rd Dist., who received support from gun control groups when he ousted National Rifle Association-backed Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur in 2018, also reacted to the shooting by championing gun control legislation.

Sadly more New Jerseyans lost their lives and we stand with their families tonight. We must support our first responders who helped fight back against this senseless violence and need to take common-sense measures to keep guns out of the hands of those who commit such acts.

— RepAndyKim (@RepAndyKimNJ) December 10, 2019

The Democratic-controlled House voted earlier this year to expand background checks, but the legislation has languished in the Republican-controlled Senate and President Donald Trump has backtracked from his pledge to support stronger gun laws.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-11th Dist., who made the background check bill the first measure she co-sponsored in the House, accused the Senate of “an abrogation” of its responsibilities by refusing to take up the legislation.

That’s hardly surprising.

What’s missing from the conversation so far is New Jersey’s extensive gun control measures, laws considered by many to be among the most restrictive in the nation. If gun control were the answer, one would imagine Jersey City wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Of course, someone should probably explain that to former Today Show co-host Katie Couric.

This is terrifying. There are active shooters in #JerseyCity – one cop has been shot in the head. Every single Jersey City public school is on lockdown in response to the active shooter situation in the city. This is our reality. It doesn’t have to be. #GunReformNow https://t.co/2ZhdzbWZ2D

— Katie Couric (@katiecouric) December 10, 2019

Again, the problem Couric and people like her miss is that we simply don’t have any information with which to hold a rational debate on the topic. Then again, Couric is retweeting Shannon Watts, who wouldn’t know a rational debate if it twerked right in her face.

I have no doubts we’ll see new gun control proposals. I have little doubt the debate will continue yet again with a new emphasis on whatever the hell they can figure out to link to Jersey City. Truth be told, I also expect demands for things that are completely irrelevant when it comes to Jersey City, just because that’s what gun control fans do.

There’s still a lot of information we don’t have. Until we know something, all we’re going to hear are the same old tired talking points from the anti-gun side.

Then again, that’s all we’ll hear from them after we know something, too.

Tom Knighton is a Navy veteran, a former newspaperman, a novelist, and a blogger and lifetime shooter. He lives with his family in Southwest Georgia. https://bearingarms.com/author/tomknighton/

https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2019/12/11/latest-know-jersey-city-shooting/