As a former police officer, I know how important it is to keep our streets safe. I have sponsored measures in the Assembly to help law enforcement officers track down illegal guns, keep guns out of the hands of felons and children, and ban weapons used to kill police officers.

• Sponsored Children's Weapon Accident Prevention Act (A76-A) which makes failing to secure weapons safely a crime

• Sponsored a bill to expand the definition of a "disguised gun" to include guns designed and intended to appear to be toy guns (A2868).

• Sponsored bills which would: ban the use of "cop killer" ammo (A3447); ban the sale, use or possession of 50-caliber or larger weapons (A2772-A); and better keep track of illegal firearms (A8700-B).

As a parent, I also know how important it is to keep children and families safe from dangerous sex offenders. That's why I fought to pass laws such as:

• E-STOP - the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (Ch. 67 of 2008) - protects children and adolescents who use the internet from convicted sex offenders and enables social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to prescreen or remove sex offenders from its services.

• Civil confinement - keeps the most dangerous sex predators off the streets even after they finish their prison sentences (Ch. 7 of 2007).