New Jersey has had historically high levels of crime over the years. Dating back to the Prohibition Era, crime has flourished in the Garden State. Whether or not the environment for crime to proliferate is a function of bad actors in government can’t be said. However, something recently said by Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J., is an admission that Second Amendment Supporters already know. The law-abiding gun owner is not the problem.

On January 15, 2025, Senator Cory Booker questioned Trump nominee for attorney general, Pam Bond, during her confirmation hearing. Through the course of the exchange, Booker made a declaration that needs to be parroted.

In opening his line of questioning, Booker, who was Mayor of Newark, N.J. from 2006 to 2013 said, “The Attorney General’s guiding star is the U.S. Constitution, and her client is the American people.” Booker continued by saying, “I hope that you, should you be confirmed, understand that there is an urgency in not just demonstrating through your actions that independence, but beginning to heal this country’s lack of faith and shaken faith in that independence in the U.S. Constitution.”

Booker’s declaration that the country has a “shaken faith” in the Constitution and that the same is a “guiding star,” is interesting in conjunction with his former support for anti-liberty policies. With that, Booker was quick to point out “stunning hypocrisies,” and the relevance of what the Senator was discussing probably got lost on himself.

One of the most stunning hypocrisies I’ve found since I’ve been down here in Washington, is every politician gives lip-service to driving down gun violence, but the very federal authority, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, that is primarily focused on enforcing America’s gun laws and keeping people safe. [They’re] hamstrung by federal leaders. The ATF’s core responsibility is assisting in local law enforcement. I was a mayor, I detailed local law enforcement to the ATF, but. I’m stunned at how they have been stripped of resources, of their budget and all of their capabilities to go after illegal gun running.

While editorializing through the confirmation process, Booker made an admission about the law-abiding gun owners in New Jersey, Newark, to be specific. That admission is something that the readers of Bearing Arms would not find shocking.

When I was mayor of the city of Newark, we couldn’t find one gun crime that was done with a legally purchased gun. But when I turned to the ATF, the ATF leader at that time told me, in private, we don’t have the resources, support or legal ability to go after these crimes.

Booker basically said that the law-abiding gun owner is not the problem.

What else happened while Booker was in office as mayor? The crime rate was kind of dynamic. When Booker took the reins in 2006, Newark’s crime rate was 1,011 per 100,000 population.

From there, available data trended as follows:

In 2007 the rate was 853 per 100,000
In 2008 the rate was 951 per 100,000
In 2009 the rate was 930 per 100,000
In 2010 the rate was 1,029 per 100,000
In 2011 the rate was 1,166 per 100,000
In 2012 the rate was 1,155 per 100,000
In 2013 the rate was 1,264 per 100,000
In 2014 the rate was 1,078 per 100,000
In 2016 the rate was 937 per 100,000

With Booker leading the city of Newark, the crime rate rose for the majority of the time he was in office. But the important thing here, that crime rate was not affected negatively, at all, by the law-abiding gun owner. Considering that, Booker should be supportive of measures that don’t restrict the fit elements of society.

Is Booker, himself, giving lip-service with all his bellowing about the Constitution? With his anti-gun past, we can assume yes. By his own words though, if he was all about being sincere, he’d be supportive of the right to keep and bear arms. It’s doubtful Booker is going to go all “Spartacus” when it comes time to support things like national reciprocity, but you never know.