Cemetery reports that some Garden State Gunnies are getting all excited about the prospects of CCW since the election of Chris Christie. Three words, “ain’t gonna happen.” The fact of the matter is, no matter what Steve Lonegan told New Jersey gun owners in the primary, there is no support in the Assembly or Senate to pass a shall-issue bill. Gun owners would be mistaken to look towards Chris Christie as their savior, or knight in shining armor. He’s not. He is your star goalie. His job is merely to keep the opposing team from scoring goals until you can get your team back in the game. It is not realistic to expect anything more from him.
In short, there’s a lot of work to do in the Garden State. You got rid of one anti-gun Assemblyman in Fred Madden’s district and replaced him with a pro-gunner. You have to keep doing that, until you have the votes to expect more from Chris Christie. Until then, you can’t expect him to put his political capital on the line for a fight he’s not going to win. Understand what Christie is. Understand his role. And work on getting your team back in the game.
The biggest obstacle we have in NJ, is the view that self defense, is not a *justifiable* reason to own a firearm. That viewpoint is held with the Courts, the Legislature, the Police, and the majority of NJ residents.
The way laws are written in NJ, not only gun related laws, but there would have to be a total dismantling of the system, in order to make CCW legal, and even allow people to use a firearm for self defense, in, or out of the home.
Self defense is a big no no in NJ.
Christie himself said it to Hannity. It ain’t gonna happen in N.J.
I’m just going to say that action inside NJ won’t result in shall-issue. And I expected that when I pushed the button for Christie.
That having been said – it will take 2 court victories (McDonald v Chicago and http://www.calgunsfoundation.org/index.php/news/71-saf-calguns-challenge-arbitrary-denial-of-right-to-bear-arms-in-california in CA) to force NJ to issue.
What I would like Christie to do is appoint some more strict-constructionist judges to the courts. No more of this “can’t believe the legislature meant that” when that’s what the law says in black-and-white.
Dave Kopel put it perfectly: Christie’s election gives us NJ gun owners the prospect of benign neglect rather than active hostility. Christie isn’t crusading against us like Corzine was, but he isn’t our friend either. Expecting that NJ will join the 21st century and start issuing carry permits before Christie even takes office is Obama-level optimism. ;)
Actually (surprizingly), self-defese within the home is permitted in NJ. See N.J.S.A. 2C:3-1 et.seq.
Was surprising to me the first time I read it, considering the attitude of most DAs considering use of deadly force in the home in defense. The use of force outside the home is so tightly restricted as to be laughable,