He's not demanding an outright ban on beach umbrellas, but he called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to "more aggressively" explore safety standards and better ways to secure sunshades on windy days.
"It's a real public health hazard every time a powerful gust of wind tears a beach umbrella right out of the sand and turns it into a projectile spear," he said during a press conference at the beach, with a dozen umbrellas in the background.
One Virginia Beach woman was killed after she was impaled by an umbrella in her torso. Closer to home, a Seaside Heights tourist was impaled in the ankle last July after a beach umbrella went flying.
"In my view, the only things that should be flying around through the air on a sunny day at the shore should be seagulls and Frisbees," he said, "not spear-tipped beach umbrellas that have the potential to claim lives."
