NJ Assembly Committee Puts Hold on Ammo Ban Legislation
NRA – ILA:
Thanks to the overwhelming number of phone calls and e-mails from dedicated NRA members, the New Jersey Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee decided to hold Assembly Bill 588 for further study.
While this fight is not over, this is a big win for gun owners in the Garden State. During Monday’s hearing, Assembly Bill 1013 passed in the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee with amendments that attempt to address gun owner concerns and has been referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee where further amendments may occur.
Law-abiding gun owners can breathe a sigh of relief due to A588 being held for further study by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. Sponsored by Assemblyman L. Grace Spencer (D-29), A588 has been confused for police safety legislation aimed at armor-piercing ammunition (which is already prohibited under federal and state law). Read more
The New Jersey Second Amendment Society Files Appeal to Force State Police to Disclose Public Documents
On Wednesday January 4, 2012, Rick Gutman the attorney for the New Jersey Second Amendment Society (NJ2AS) filed an appeal with the NJ Appellate division in its lawsuit against the NJ Division of State Police. This case revolves around the state’s refusal to allow lawful New Jersey residents reasonable access to documents which directly impact the processing of their applications for Firearms Identification Cards and Handgun Purchase Permits. After receiving numerous complaints from applicants who were subjected to extended delays, intrusive forms and other requirements that clearly go beyond what is allowed by law, the NJ2AS took decisive action.
A formal Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for access to the NJ Division of State Police Firearms Applicant Investigation Guide was filed on March 14, 2011. A week later this request was summarily denied. Attorney Gutman then filed a lawsuit requesting that an “order to show cause” be served on the NJ Division of State Police to explain why they refused to allow access to what should be considered a public document. The order to show cause was served on May 6, 2011.
After multiple delays by the state’s attorney general’s office the case was heard by Judge Douglas Hurd in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Trenton on December 2, 2010. Unfortunately, Judge Hurd ruled against the NJ2AS. The judge’s decision was based in part on the exemption which the Division claimed under Governor Christie’s Executive Order #47. Part of this order exempts certain governmental agencies from having to reveal Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) no matter how innocuous. The NJ2AS’s request for access was also denied under the Common Law Right of Access (CLRA) which balances the plaintiff’s right to access against the state’s perceived need to protect the public interest.
The NJ2AS contends that there can be no threat to the public interest in exposing the contents of a guide designed to assist municipal authorities through the convoluted process of granting a NJ resident a Firearms Identification Card or a Permit to Purchase a Handgun. Every applicant must submit to a thorough criminal background check as well as a mental health check. They must be fingerprinted and have their fingerprints checked through an FBI database. The Society believes that nothing in the guide could possibly disclose any way to circumvent this rigorous process.
The NJ2AS also contends that the entire process is redundant since a handgun purchaser must submit to an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check (NICS) at the point of purchase. The antiquated NJ Division of State Police processing was designed at a time before this more efficient national process was developed. New Jersey’s system has since become a slow, costly and redundant relic in light of this newer computerized system.
“If the state insists on continuing the use of this inefficient system of processing applications,” states Frank Jack Fiamingo, the founder and President of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society, “New Jersey residents must have access to the guide in order to ensure that they are not being subjected to tougher standards then residents in any other part of the state. We have received numerous complaints from our members as well as members of the community at large that they are being treated unfairly. For instance, we have identified more than 25 NJ municipalities that have introduced additional forms which are specifically disallowed under the NJ firearms statutes”.
In addition, Fiamingo indicates that he has received countless complaints of delays in processing that range from several months to over a year. According to the statutes, these applications should be processed in no more than thirty (30) days.
The New Jersey Second Amendment Society is dedicated to restoring and preserving constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms (RKBA) for legitimate purposes.
SAF, ANJRPC WILL APPEAL NEW JERSEY RIGHT-TO-CARRY RULING
Federal Judge William H. Walls, a Clinton appointee, dismissed a case filed by both organizations challenging New Jersey’s handgun carry laws, which have all but eliminated the right to self-defense with a firearm outside the home. Read more
NY Times: Reckless Disregard for Safety
The New York Times offered an editorial this week titled, “Reckless Disregard for Safety,” noting:
The House showed its utter disregard for public safety in November when it approved the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, which would take away the authority of states to decide who is allowed to carry a concealed and loaded handgun within their borders.
This is really “utter disregard.” Consider the following passage:
For example, New York, New Jersey and other states that bar individuals under 21 from obtaining a concealed carry permit would have to honor permits from states with no age requirement. The measure would also hamper efforts to combat illegal gun trafficking. An individual with a concealed carry permit from Florida — which allows the holder to carry unlimited numbers of concealed weapons — could drive a stash of weapons into New York and would have to be caught selling the guns on the street to get arrested.
What is stopping those teenagers in Harlem from arming themselves now? They don’t have concealed carry permits. This argument only aims to show that it would punish the law-abiding as the criminals are already breaking the law.
Does a posted speed limit by itself stop speeding? No, so why would a law such as this change who is packing an illegal gun and who is legally carrying a gun? Except to make it illegal to even carry a gun in the first place? In the end it seems to use the illegal gun would still be carried.
Northern New Jersey adds an indoor shooting range and training facility
A new, state of the art, indoor range had its grand opening this past weekend in Morris County. RTSP is a modern spacious, complete firearms training facility, including a range and retail store, conveniently located on Route 10 in Randolph, NJ. The mission of RTSP as described by one of its owners, Rick Friedman, is to educate people to safely own and enjoy firearms for hunting, sporting and defensive purposes. Among the four owners, Rick, Dieter Decuba, Brad Tremaroli and Peter Miscia is combined experience in law enforcement and firearms instruction. Their goals for RTSP include providing firearms training that will build strong skills and promote responsible firearms ownership. Read more
NJ.com: NRA campaigns to arm dangerous people are reckless
This week NJ.com, the Website for the New Jersey Star-Ledger, offered an op-ed headline that is extremely misleading. Titled, “NRA campaigns to arm dangerous people are reckless,” it suggests that the NRA would like to arm criminals. The article noted:
Now, it defends measures such as the bill that passed in the House yesterday, which would allow even dangerous people to carry concealed weapons in New Jersey, and every other state.
Why do editors always assume that the worst of humanity are those who will take advantage of these laws? What about the law-abiding citizens? Apparently in New Jersey only gangster and thugs would ever consider owning, let alone wanting to carry a gun, so therefore banning all guns only hurts them. That seems to be the line of thinking here.
The problem is that it does only hurt the law-abiding by banning guns. Criminals don’t need a bill passed by the House or any other law to allow them to carry guns, because – simply put – the criminal types would ignore the law in the first place!
The article adds:
Gun owners don’t want people to carry concealed firearms in states where they’re not allowed to. They don’t want gun licenses for anyone who poses a threat or has multiple arrests or criminal convictions, the poll shows.
It is fascinating that NJ.com thinks they can speak for all gun owners. No gun owners don’t licenses for those who pose a threat, but what makes anyone think most of the people who pose a threat bother with licenses at all?
USA Today: Gun reciprocity shoots holes in states’ rights
This week USA Today offered an editorial titled, “Gun reciprocity shoots holes in states’ rights,” and noted:
Different states have different rules for carrying concealed handguns, and for good reason. Rules that make sense in largely rural Western states such as Montana or Wyoming can make much less sense in more urban states such as New York and New Jersey, where legislators have made it harder to get a carry permit than it is out West.
There are several problems with this line of thinking,not the least bit of which is why should those in urban states have their Second Amendment rights reduced? Didn’t the Supreme Court rule that communities cannot restrict those rights? Shouldn’t hunters, sport shooters and gun collectors be able to obtain the same firearms as those in other states? Again, restrictive laws only punish the law-abiding and don’t do the least bit to deter criminals.
But there is one other point we’d like to bring out front and center. Recently New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attempted to chart the course of legislation in Virginia, and in the past his group Mayors Against Illegal Guns attempted to prove that gun shows in other states allow for straw purchases. Where is the media outrage at these facts?
This is the problem with the anti-gun line. It calls for states’ rights when it suits the issue, but throws it out the window when it is the least bit inconvenient!
NJ2AS: The Never-ending Saga of Firearms Ownership in New Jersey
If you want to know the REAL story of how difficult and convoluted firearms ownership is in New Jersey. Grab a seat and be prepared to be informed and entertained.
Senator Frank R. Lautenberg: “We don’t need states like Texas, Arizona and Alaska telling us how to protect our people from gun violence”
This week writing for The Record (via NorthJersey.com), Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) offered the thought “Race to the bottom on gun control,” where he suggested:
“We don’t need states like Texas, Arizona and Alaska telling us how to protect our people from gun violence.”
This is a bold statement, but could gun owners respond by saying that we don’t need states like New Jersey, Illinois and California from telling us that that we don’t need our guns?
Lautenberg of course sees it differently, writing that “our streets are flooded with guns,” and adds:
“In New Jersey, we work hard to keep guns out of the hands of people who have no business having them. Before we issue a permit for concealed carry, we require applicants to complete a firearms training course and demonstrate why they need to carry a handgun. These rules make New Jersey’s handgun laws among the nation’s toughest — and our state should take pride in that.”
The truth is that New Jersey is not without gun crime, so how is it that “the nation’s toughest” laws allow this to happen? Lautenberg also fails to note that criminals don’t apply for permits to carry, nor do they take a training course and never both to demonstrate why they need to carry a gun.
NJ2AS: TOY Gun buyback programs
Every year, particularly around the holiday season, there are articles in the news about kids “trading in” their toy guns for a more “appropriate” toy or book. Sad faced children, usually little boys, carry their prized toy guns to their fate of being crushed by machines like the Bash-O-Matic, all for the exchange of a brightly wrapped book or stuffed animal. Last Christmas I really felt sorry for a nine year old boy named Malik from Providence, RI, whose mother made him bash all, save one, of his seven toy guns (“I mean he is a boy after all,” she said); especially since my four kids have a small arsenal of Nerf guns that we use regularly in the now infamous Spivack family wars.
