Foiled again on Christie veto, NJ Senate president promise another go-round

The latest effort by the New Jersey Senate to override Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of legislation has stumbled, but it’s not over yet.

The bill called for law enforcement authorities to be notified when an individual attempts to have their mental health records erased in order to apply for a gun permit.

The override attempt fell two votes short Thursday.

It’s baffling that the bill originally passed unanimously, but only two Republicans voted for an override, said Senate President Steve Sweeney.

“It’s just remarkable just to watch people vote for something time in and time out, and then — when the governor says no — that they all fall in line,” said Sweeney, D-Gloucester. “They’re thinking about the governor’s national aspirations and not the people of New Jersey.”

Sweeney wonders why lawmakers would vote against the measure.

“God forbid that someone who has a mental health issue gets their record expunged and gets a gun and kills somebody. Then how do you live with yourself?”

Sweeney pulled the override bill Thursday before the vote was official. Telling lawmakers to prepare to consider it again, he could make another attempt as soon as the next voting session in early October.

“There’s two that didn’t vote and one that wasn’t here. So there are three people, and they’re good people,” he said. “So I’m hoping their conscience takes them to a point where they vote for it … if I have to put the House under call to make them all vote, no one is going to escape this. There are going to be no abstentions. It’s a yes or a no.”