Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • August 15, 2012 Mahwah Township’s mayor weighs in on gun control by Frank J. McMahon Mahwah Mayor William Laforet recently issued a statement in support of an advocacy campaign being waged by Michael Pohle, the New Jersey man who lost his son to gun violence in the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. Laforet’s action follows the recent shooting in a Colorado movie theater in which 12 people died and 58 were wounded by a young man who used tear gas as he entered the theater and then used a semi-automatic weapon and other guns to randomly shoot patrons watching a midnight showing of a movie, and the recent shooting in a Sikh Temple outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where six people were killed and three injured. In his press release, Laforet called on Bergen County voters to ask the candidates in the lead-up to the November congressional elections tough questions about gun violence. “It amazes me that in states like Virginia and Georgia you can still buy a semi-automatic assault rifle at a gun show and not even have to go through a background check,” Laforet stated. “Too many of these guns are trafficked north into New Jersey where they end up at crime scenes. But Congress has done nothing to close these deadly loopholes in the law. In fact, over the past year, legislators have been trying to further weaken federal gun laws. What we need is a change in direction and we can start by holding our congressional candidates accountable for their gun agenda.” Laforet urged all congressional candidates, including Republican Congressman Scott Garrett and Democratic challenger Adam Gussen in the Fifth Congressional District, to reply to the letter Pohle sent to the New Jersey delegation to the U.S. Congress. In that letter, Pohle asked the state’s members of Congress to take concrete action to stop gun violence. “I am not asking for a moment of silence or a national conversation,” Pohle wrote. “What I need is the assurance that you will stand up to members of the fight-to-the-death gun lobby. They are far more extreme than the hunters and sport-shooters and responsible gun owners they claim to represent.” Laforet echoed those sentiments and said reasonable gun regulations are consistent with the Second Amend- ment to the U.S. Constitution. “This is about the freedom to walk down the street, in a big city or small town, and not have to worry about easily accessible crime guns,” Laforet stated. “We need to fix the nation’s background check system and give our law enforcement officers the tools they need to stop gun crime and gun trafficking. Let’s make sure the folks running for congress understand that.” Former Mahwah Mayor John DaPuzzo, a card carrying member of the National Rifle Association, who is expected to oppose Laforet in this year’s mayoral election, responded to Laforet’s press release, saying he disagreed that guns are the problem causing violence. “I feel the Second Amendment is extremely important. I have no objection to reasonable guidelines to own and carry a firearm and a waiting period for people (seeking to buy a gun),” he said, “but guns don’t kill people, people do, whether they do it with a gun, or with knives, or with a bow and arrow.” DaPuzzo emphasized that he believes convicted felons should not own firearms and he reiterated that he has no objection to reasonable gun restrictions, but he pointed out, “The states and cities that have concealed carry permits have some of the lowest crime rates in the country.” DaPuzzo also questioned why Laforet issued a press release on this subject. “The township of Mahwah has absolutely no input whatsoever on gun control,” DaPuzzo said. “There is no such thing a gun control in the Township (continued on page 23)