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.
Newark Arts & Entertainment Examiner: No one should play with guns
Christine Wans, Wharton Family Friendly Events Examiner wrote a piece on Newark, New Jerey’s toy gun buyback, and in a piece that looked at the issue, ended with this biased take on it.
She seems to ask a question, but then interjects with an opinion that makes it impossible for any reader to really give their own thought to the issue:
“Should more communities offer this family friendly event? A positive and hopeful message these children went home with healthy options to toy guns. No one should play with guns, especially children.”
We agree that guns are not toys, so the statement, “no one should play with guns, especially children” is apt, except that this is about “toy guns” not real guns. There is a major and significant distinction. Children shouldn’t drive cars, but they play with toy cars, and even drive battery powered toy cars.
Conflict resolution and “fighting monsters” or other evils is part of childhood, and by taking away toys – even toy guns – we are in essence controlling how children play. Isn’t play supposed to be about independent expression? Instead we are saying, “conflict is bad, so don’t do it.” We’ll have to see how this plays out.
FirearmsCoalition.org: No Questions Asked Gun-Buy-Backs Are Illegal
FirearmsCoalition.org
By Jeff Knox:
For decades we’ve heard about gun turn-ins – “Gun Buy-Back” programs sponsored by churches, civic groups, and various other misinformed do-gooder organizations.
The very name – buy-back – implies that guns belong not to individuals, but to the government, or at least to the people who don’t like guns.
The programs have the stated purpose of “getting guns off the street,” which seems to give operators a pass from further scrutiny, even as they offer a tangible good such as a grocery store coupon or gift card in return for a gun, “no questions asked,” much like any other fencing operation.
Finally someone has forced the question: Are these programs legal?
Attorney and author of the New Jersey Gun Law Guide, Evan Nappen, not only asked the question, he is offering a $5000 bounty for anyone who can prove an affirmative answer.
Nappen is specifically asking about the legality of a church-sponsored program in the state of New Jersey. Read more
New Jersey Star Ledger Editorial Offers Misleading Information in Editorial
To make its point, Daniel Vice in a guest opinion column uses extreme examples to make a point on gun violence for The New Jersey Star Ledger. This is not only inaccurate but a downright disgusting way to do so. While calling for “common-sense laws” he writes:
“If today is an average day in America, eight children and teens will be shot to death before the rest are tucked into bed. Each day, our nation’s weak gun laws fail to protect our children, whether it’s a 9-year-old born on 9/11 and killed while visiting her congresswoman in Tucson, or a college freshman, eager to learn, yet gunned down with 31 others in classrooms at Virginia Tech.”
By citing those examples he implies that these are daily occurrences. That is akin to suggesting that heading to work in New York City could result in your office tower being the target of a terrorist attack, or that Japan is hit by earthquakes and tsunamis every week.
Of course Vice, who happens to be a lawyer for the Brady Campaign also makes another foolish statement on how states with what he calls “strong” gun laws suffer because of states with “weak” laws:
“But our country’s weak gun laws allow traffickers and killers to stockpile guns in states with weaker laws and smuggle them into our communities. In New Jersey, strong laws make it so much harder for criminals to get firearms that guns flood in from states with weak gun laws at a rate seven times higher than the number of crime guns trafficked out of the state.”
The problem with this argument is that it doesn’t explain examples such as Chicago, or Washington, D.C. These are dangerous cities now because criminals obtain firearms illegally and leave the residents undefended. His argument is also flawed, surprising because as a lawyer he essentially argues for a living. Read this again:
“In New Jersey, strong laws make it so much harder for criminals to get firearms that guns flood in from states with weak gun laws.”
In other words, the so-called strong gun laws only mean criminals look elsewhere, and thus break the law to do so. Wouldn’t this imply that criminals would turn to smuggling in guns from other countries as well if there were national “strong” gun laws? Those strong gun laws thus are NOT working to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. And instead of going after the criminals, this lawyer is blaming the system instead of the criminals. And some how this is “common sense.”
GUN BUYBACK PROGRAMS – LOSING OUR HISTORY
A Gun Buyback program took place last week in Plainfield, NJ. Hosted by seven churches in the area, people were encouraged to turn their guns in, no questions asked, for up to $200 in cash. All weapons were turned over to police officers by the churches and subsequently destroyed.
Gun buyback programs are nothing new. There are those who feel that based on the type and condition of the weapons recovered they are simply a waste of time and more of a public relations event. And there are those people who feel that taking any gun off the “streets” (or out of someone’s attic) helps make our communities safer. Many guns collected in buyback programs are not in working order or the type used in crimes today. If you live in New Jersey and are familiar with the strict gun control laws in the state, then you also might have additional concerns regarding the ability of churches to legally “buy” guns from anonymous sellers. (For more information on the debate regarding the possible legality of the issue in New Jersey, visit Attorney Evan Nappan’s website.) Read more
GUN SAFETY IN THE HOME – THE FIRST PRIORITY!
An ever increasing number of people are purchasing firearms for home protection today. Many of these people are first time firearms owners who have decided for various reasons to add a layer of protection for their families. This means that many homes with firearms will also have children present and while good firearms safety storage measures are important to block access to all unauthorized persons, its especially important to consider how to safeguard your children as well as to introduce them to any firearms you have in your home. Read more
$5000 Reward If You Can Prove NJ Church’s Gun “Buybacks” Are Legal
Evan F. Nappen, Attorney at Law and author of the “NEW JERSEY GUN LAW GUIDE” (www.evanappen.com) is offering a $5000* reward to the first person who can show to Attorney Nappen’s satisfaction the specific New Jersey gun law statutes (N.J.S. 2C:39-1 through 2C:39-16 or N.J.S. 2C:58-1 through N.J.S. 58-19) which authorizes the Plainfield churches to act as “collection sites” in which persons are paid up to $200 in cash with “no-questions- asked” for any type of gun from handguns to “assault firearms” and said guns are then destroyed without further investigation.
(For more information on this “buyback” see the following article: http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20110803/NJNEWS/308030028/Plainfield-religious-leaders-police-gearing-up-gun-buyback-program )
Attorney Nappen knows of no New Jersey gun law statute allowing:
- the anonymous surrender of firearms;
- the receipt of surrendered firearms by churches;
- the unlicensed transport of guns to churches; and
- the destruction without investigation of guns (which may be potential criminal evidence or stolen property that should be returned to their rightful owners.
He would very much like to include such laws his next edition of the “NEW JERSEY GUN LAW GUIDE”.
New Jersey law provides for the voluntary surrender of firearms only when the person giving up the firearms first gives written notice to the chief of police where he resides or the state police superintendent. Anonymous surrender is simply not authorized. The same law authorizes only the local police chief or the state police superintendent to receive surrendered guns. A church is not authorized under the statute to receive surrendered firearms. (See N.J.S. 2C:39-12.) Also, there is no transportation exemption for such a surrender scheme or bringing unlicensed guns to church. (See N.J.S. 2C:39-6.)
The immunity granted under New Jersey’s voluntary surrender law is limited to unlawful possession only and nothing more. By allowing for anonymous “no-questions-asked” surrender, the buyback program effectively creates de facto immunity far beyond this.
The purchase of firearms in New Jersey is strictly prohibited except for licensed dealers and individuals with a Handgun Purchase Permit or Firearms Purchaser ID Card. All gun sales are recorded and include the name and address of the buyer and seller. A church is not authorized under the statute to purchase firearms, no less from anonymous sellers. The payment of cash for a firearms purchase by anyone other than a licensed dealer or a permit/FID cardholder is not permitted. (See N.J.S. 2C:58-3(a) and (b).)
*Notice: The Reward offer expires on November 5, 2011.
NRA News: Trenton Gun Violence Surge Amid Pending Police Layoffs
Cam Edwards talks to Scott Bach from the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs
