Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman led a gun violence discussion with community members from New Jersey.
TRENTON -- U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman talked gun violence during a roundtable discussion Wednesday in Trenton, joining with victims of gun violence and others.
The event attracted several leaders and community members from New Jersey, all who advocated stricter gun laws.
And it also attracted a vocal Second Amendment supporter, who had a verbal confrontation with Watson Coleman, (D-12th Dist.).
The roundtable coincided with a National Day of Action on gun violence prevention after Democrats - including Watson Coleman - staged a sit-in on the House floor at the U.S. Capitol last week in protest of the lack of action in the face of recent shootings, like the Orlando night club mass shooting.
"This is an issue of the wrong people having access to guns," Watson Coleman said. "This is not about infringing upon the Second Amendment. When the Second Amendment was written, it was about muskets, not semi-automatic weapons."
Several local family members who lost a loved one to gun violence shared their story and cried for stricter laws.
A teary-eyed Regina Thompson-Jenkins, whose son, Tre Lane, was killed in the shooting on New Willow Street in Trenton 2012, implored the room to rise up against gun violence.
"Tre may have died a hero, but it doesn't bring back my son," she said. "All lives matter. These streets in Trenton are our streets of America."
Pastor Mark Broach, of the Trenton Deliverance Center, where the event was held, wondered aloud why Trenton does not react to gun violence with the same outrage and urgency as it would to an epidemic.
"The real way that we'll change what's going on is the way that we vote," Broach said. "The group that I am working with now is trying to mobilize voters. If we don't make a change there, we won't make a change anywhere else."
Throughout the discussion, Watson Coleman interjected and several times made it a point to reiterate that the momentum from the democratic sit-in will make a change.
"This is not a moment," Watson Coleman said. "This is a movement."
However, one man in attendance was not in support of the calls for stricter laws.
Alexander Roubian, who was the discussion's only vocal opponent of stricter gun laws, brought up Watson Coleman's sons' criminal past and accused her of being hypocritical.
William Carter-Watson and Jared C. Coleman were sentenced to seven years in jail after holding up a Kids-R-Us store at gunpoint in Lawrence in 2001.
"I'm not taking this and you just shut this down right now," Watson Coleman said. "This has nothing to do with anything. You get out of here."
Roubian was escorted out by several people who were part of the discussion.
Outside the church, Roubian said Watson Coleman supported legislation that would have allowed her children to omit their felony charges from job applications.
Watson Coleman spokeswoman Courtney Cochran said the congresswoman has a strong record on gun violence.
"The congresswoman has had a consistent stance on gun laws," Cochran said. "Right now, she is working on the stop online ammunition sales act that would better track online bullet purchases."
Thomas Regan may be reached at tregan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Thomas_P_Regan. Find NJ.com on Facebook.