More Gun Control Passes in NJ

Unfortunately, this is a bit of a dog bites man story for a state like New Jersey. The bigger question is what Christie does, because if he signs this stuff, he can kiss his presidential ambitions goodbye. From ANJRPC:

Today (May 30), the New Jersey State Senate passed its remaining package of 10 gun bills in a largely partisan vote, following procedural delays and additional committee hearings since the last Senate voting session on May 13. Many of the bills in the entire legislative package passed by the Senate this month will now move back to the Assembly for concurrence with changes made in the Senate, and whatever passes the Assembly will then move to the Governor’s office.

There may be new Assembly committee hearings on some of the bills passed by the Senate before the full Assembly votes on the entire bill package in June. We do not anticipate that the Governor will take action before July on any of the bills that reach his desk.

Absent from today’s Senate agenda were simple, easy fixes to longstanding issues that have plagued law-abiding gun owners, which ANJRPC has been pressing for months. These include an “Aitken’s Law” concept (to prevent law-abiding gun owners from being turned into criminals for hypertechnical transportation violations); enforcement of the 30-day permit issuance deadline already required by law but ignored by permitting authorities; and extension of handgun permits to one year. We will continue to press for these fixes to be added to the legislative package of gun bills.

Here are the bills that passed the Senate today:

S2723 (Throws out existing FID cards & replaces with driver license endorsement or other form of ID; suspends Second Amendment rights without proof of firearms training, including for all current handgun owners; imposes 7-day waiting period for handgun purchases; ends all private sales; effectively creates a registry of ammunition purchases and long gun sales; additional impacts.)

S2178 (Bans fifty caliber and similar firearms. The current version was amended to make the bill effective immediately – specifically to prevent law-abiding citizens with pending orders for these firearms from taking possession of them. Grandfathering of those who already own these firearms has been added – but the guns must be registered, and owners could have civil liability if the firearm is used in a crime. This bill impacts firearms with a muzzle energy of 12,000 ft-pounds, even if under .50 caliber, and possibly other firearms. Gun bans like this are based on the false, unsupportable idea that society will be safer if one particular tool is removed, which fails to recognize that someone intent on doing evil wi ll not be stopped or deterred merely because one particular tool is not available.)

S2485 (Suspends Second Amendment rights of U.S. citizens based on a secret government list – no due process. Ignores the presumption of innocence to which all U.S. citizens are entitled. Can be abused by government officials to ban guns to demonized classes of law abiding citizens, including military veterans and gun owners.)

A3717 (Submits mental health records to NICS – no stated requirement of due process, despite repeated requests since February.)

S2467 / S2471 (Prohibits investment of state pension funds in companies tied to manufacturers, importers, or sellers of so-called “assault” firearms for civilian use.).

S2804 (Makes possession of firearms a first degree crime for those previously convicted of serious crimes or engaged in commission of a serious crime. This bill targets violent criminals in possession of guns. During committee testimony, ANJRPC urged legislators to add a corollary “Aitken’s Law” provision to protect law-abiding gun owners from severe unintended consequences of NJ gun law generally, but they declined to do so).

S1133 (Significantly enhances bail requirements for certain gun crimes. As originally written, carried potential for extreme unintended consequences against law-abiding gun owners. Committee amendments were added in response to ANJRPC testimony to preclude this possibility – enhanced bail requirements now only apply to those engaged in, or previously convicted of, serious crimes.)

S1279 (Increases the penalty for unlawful transfer of a firearm to a minor from third to second degree. As originally written, carried potential for extreme unintended consequences against law-abiding gun owners. Committee amendments were added in response to ANJRPC testimony to ensure that temporary transfers to minors for instruction and training were exempted. Existing law would already exempt temporary transfers for target practice and competition.)

S2801 (Increases the statute of limitations for prosecution of theft of a firearm from 5 to 10 years).

S2552 (Would protect private identity information of individual gun owners from public disclosure.)

ANJRPC will be issuing additional alerts as information is available.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. One Gun a Month Headed to Floor in New Jersey
  2. New Jersey Gun Control Heads to Senate
  3. Anti-Gun Bills in California Headed to Senate

39 thoughts on “More Gun Control Passes in NJ”

  1. New Jersey really is its own punishment. And the folks living there voted for this stuff. Don’t worry, they’ll be moving to PA after screwing up their own state.

    Don’t forget to vote for Krisp Krispy in 2016! He’s The Only One Who Can Defeat Hillary!

    1. I hate crap like this. It’s like you don’t know how a representative democracy with gerrymandered districts operates. There are plenty of folks in NJ who hate this crap, but they’re outnumbered and marginalized by those politicians from the inner cities and the political machines entrenched within.

      Don’t laugh PA, but there but for the grace of God, you go. You think you folks are safe because a measly little river separates our two lands? You too suffer the same problems we do, being a predominantly suburban/rural state dominated by urban population centers. You too have a strong Democrat presence in your politics.

      The gun control vultures have won here, and as Sebastian has noted time and again, they’re on your turf now… working and waiting to strike.

      1. Yep. A lot of what we’ve had here in PA has been luck. The GOP has controlled the legislature for the past several censuses (censi?). There’s no guarantee that’s going to continue. We’ve also benefitted from the fact that gun control is a divisive issue within the Democratic caucus. That is also increasingly becoming untrue.

        1. We’ve also benefitted from the fact that gun control is a divisive issue within the Democratic caucus. That is also increasingly becoming untrue.

          What makes you believe that democratic voters are becoming more unified in an anti-gun stance?

          I’ve assumed the rise of gun culture 2.0 has had the opposite effect.

          1. Yes and no.

            The problem is legislators tend to share the prejudices of their generation. The so-called “gun culture 2.0” crowd largely seems to top out around 25-30, and most of the current crop of legislators are older.

            It’s a generational shift in thinking, and the previous generations still hold the seats of power.

      2. Oh, I see PA’s gun freedom is coming to an end. All the cockroaches are fleeing NJ, NY, and MD and coming to PA to vote for the same things they’re trying to get away from.

        PA is toast, and I’m not sticking around to see how that turns out.

  3. I wonder if he wants to be NJ Governor after this. Signing this won’t make dems vote for him, and it will make Republicans stay home

    1. I don’t think he’s got much to worry about for re-election, regardless of what he does. A lot of NJ gun owners have been staying home for a while now, and those that haven’t been will vote for Christie on other issues. He also has enough independent and cross-party appeal already, I think he’s safe to do whatever he wants in terms of New Jersey politics.

              1. Well, I’m a refugee from the Gestapo State, uhm, I mean Garden State, and I did move to PA and vote mostly Republican, with a few libertarian votes and very few Dumbascrap, uh, Democrat, votes mixed in.

  4. We all agree that Christie would scuttle any chance for a GOP nomination if he signs this package of bills. But how many gun owners here and across the U.S. would be willing to support Christie’s presidential bid if he simply vetoed them all?

    1. Following that line of thinking, how many angels can fit on the head of a pin?

    2. I live in NJ and truly hope Christie’s Presidential ambitions will motivate him to veto it all. The Democrats really are tempting him to commit political suicide.

      No way does he lose re-election this year. I can’t name any of the Democrats in the primary next month.

  5. I don’t think Christie has a chance as a serious Presidential candidate as things are now. His action on these bills will however cement him into the RINO category (if he isn’t already there…)

    1. The point I was trying to make was, that if there is no reward for Christie to veto these bills, the reward being gun owner support support in future runs for office, then there is no reason for him to veto.

      1. There is no penalty for vetoes either. He isn’t going to lose re-election. Any urban votes he loses, he’ll make up for in the outer counties. It won’t mean a thing in November – but signing it would effectively end any shot he has in a national election.

  6. WOW, just wow… Talk about putting gun owners in a bind, especially if SB2723 goes in as written, it effectively makes ALL handgun owners criminals if they don’t know their cards are no longer valid!

    1. It’s very specifically a permit to purchase, not to possess. The only things invalidating the existing FPID does is prevent the holder of the old card from buying ammo and possessing an unloaded longarm outside the “normal” restrictions. The permit to possess is NJ’s equivalent of a carry permit, and is impossible to get without “good cause”…

  7. Any one know the actual vote counts? Curious about the two thirds they’d need to overrode his hypothetical veto.

  8. The votes went straight down the party lines on most of the bills with one lone Democrat, Senator Jeff Van Drew siding with the Republicans. Most of the voting was 24-16, 23-17. Bills that increased penalties for crimes with a firearm went 40-0.

  9. The Senate would need 3 or 4 Republican defectors to vote with Democrats to get to 27 to override a Christie veto. That’s not going to happen. No Republican Senator is going to vote against a Republican governor and not after Senate President Steve Sweeney pulled all of the Republican bills from the voting board two weeks ago.

    Not even in this screwball state.

  10. NJ is a weird state. The Democrats from the urban areas and rich inner suburbs are ultra-liberal. The Republicans from the exerbs – Warren, Sussex, parts of Morris and Hunterdon counties – are very very conservative.

    My U.S. Rep., Scott Garrett, is pretty much a libertarian. My Senators are f&@#ing commies.

  11. Let’s not be sad sacks. This stuff doesn’t happen unless it gets fought. Maybe things need to get taken up a notch over there in the Garden State. Are we really going to have to wait for the courts?

  12. S2723 – “suspends Second Amendment rights without proof of firearms training, including for all current handgun owners”

    Doesn’t that effectively make all gun ownership illegal?
    If no one can own a gun due to not having a right to one until after firearms training, and they can’t very well train without a gun, does it not?

    Also that has to be ‘infringing’ on your 2nd amendment rights! No way they can defend that bad a law in court!

    1. It’s a little bit overblown/misleading in that summary. The Second Amendment right being suspended is not possession of a handgun, but the ability to purchase ammunition and new/further firearms. The possession of currently owned firearms well not be made illegal workout this ID, as far as I can tell. Still an unconscionable infringement on the second amendment, but not “get card or go to jail.” This is not an MA or IL type FOID, it’s a permission slip to buy firearms and ammo.

      1. But, if a person wants to become a new firearm owner he/she cannot buy one until passing a Firearms Training Course, and thus can’t buy a handgun to train with until after the take the class.

        Sounds alot like what NY, DC, and California are trying to do to their subjects. Making it “Legal” on paper, but damn near impossible in actuality to make it thru all the hoops..

  13. One thing I do not agree with at all in the above post:

    “potential for extreme unintended consequences against law-abiding gun owners”

    I believe the consequences against law-abiding gun owners were very much intended…..

  14. S2723 is one that really concerns me. If what someone recently said about it is true, that once your FPID is formatted into your NJ Driver License, you won’t be able to purchase firearms or ammunition anywhere except for within the State of NJ, then.. Governor Christie BETTER VETO that one simply because it would be against the US Constitution to prohibit people from making purchases out of State.!!!!!!

    1. I also see alot of NJ residents making a trip to PA to buy longguns and ammo if this passes……

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