By Phil Murphy
As President Obama stated yesterday, we will not allow a cowardly act of terror to divide our people or our nation. Today, we grieve with Orlando and the 49 families who are dealing with the violent and senseless loss of a loved one. And, our thoughts remain with the 53 others who were injured, many of whom remain hospitalized.
That this violence was focused on the LGBT community during Pride Month is chilling. The lives of those so senselessly murdered should be an inspiration for us to continue to fight to remove the barriers that continue to lead too many people in our society to feel marginalized.
There is also no excuse for scapegoating an entire religion for the actions of a few. Let us be very clear: our nation and our Constitution are built on a foundation of religious freedom. When Donald Trump accuses the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims of being complicit in terrorism, he demonstrates again why he is unfit to lead.
So long as our laws allow people like this hate-filled, domestic abuser to simply walk into a gun shop and walk out with a personal arsenal, no questions asked, this is not the last time we will be grieving mass violence in another community somewhere in our nation. This is the inevitable consequence of letting the NRA, rather than common sense, dictate our gun laws.