Speaking to religious voters Friday morning, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie addressed the mass shooting this week in Charleston, S.C., arguing new laws will not stop such atrocities.
“This type of conduct is something that only our display of our own love and good faith that’s in our heart can change,” Christie said at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference.
“Laws can’t change this,” Christie said. “Only the goodwill and the love of the American people can let those folks know that that act was unacceptable, disgraceful and that we need to do more to show that we love each other.”
The Republican, considering a run for president, added: “That’s what leadership is about, everybody.”
In remarks Thursday, President Obama suggested new gun control measures are necessary.
Speaking about the shooting in Charleston, where a gunman killed nine parishioners at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church, Christie said: “Life is precious. And we learned that again in South Carolina.”
“The idea that anyone, that any human being, would walk into a church and sit there for an hour and pray, with people, that he intended to murder is depraved,” he said. “It’s unthinkable. We can’t put our minds around conduct like that, can we?”