Assembly passes 6 bills to toughen state’s gun control laws

Politico – by Matt Friedman

TRENTON — The last time a mass shooting spurred New Jersey Democrats to seek to toughen the state’s already strict gun laws — after the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012 — they ran into a wall in then-Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

Now, in the aftermath of last month’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Democrats are trying again, with many of the same measures Christie rejected. Only this time, they’re almost certain to be signed by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.  

The Assembly on Monday passed six gun control measures. Though some were minor changes or redundant with federal law, others would make significant changes to New Jersey’s gun laws by reducing the permitted size of ammunition magazines and making it easier to seize guns from those deemed a threat to themselves or others.

The votes came two days after massive rallies were held across the country and in New Jersey in support of new federal gun control laws.

“I know it’s not lost on anyone in this room that the children that we lost that day in Sandy Hook would be 12 or 13 years of age — only a year or two younger than many of the students who lost their lives in Parkland,” Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald said. “There is an entire generation of students who grew up with the ever-present fear of violence in our communities, and now these students are speaking up.”

But opponents characterized the measures as an assault on their constitutional rights. Several hundred gun rights activists protested near the Statehouse before Monday’s vote, holding signs with messages like “Leave Us Alone” and “Punish Criminals, Not Gun Owners.”

Assemblyman Harold Wirths (R-Sussex), told the crowd the bills won’t make anyone safer.

“They’re just feel-good politicians that are trying to get headlines and use a horrible tragedy,” Wirths said. “When I first ran for Assembly, I told people they were coming for your guns. … The ultimate goal of many of these people, if they had a magic wand, would be to take every firearm away from you. Don’t believe the rhetoric that they say ‘we’re for law-abiding (citizens), we’re for hunting.’ That’s pure BS.”

The ammunition magazines bill, NJ A 2761 (18R), which Christie twice vetoed, was pushed for by families of the survivors of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., who, in previous years came to Trenton to advocate for it.

The Assembly passed the bill 48-25, with three abstentions.

Gun owners who have fixed magazines that fit more than 10 rounds could keep their guns under the bill, but they’d have to register them and pay a $50 fee.

Two bills would make it easier to seize guns from certain owners. One, NJ A 1181 (18R), which passed 62-7 with seven abstentions, would require law enforcement to seize firearms from those who mental health professionals determine are “likely to engage in conduct that poses a threat of serious harm to the patient or another person.”

The bill would apply to those who practice psychology, psychiatry, medicine, nursing, clinical social work or marriage and family therapy. Those practitioners are already required to warn potential victims if someone tells them or they have reason to believe harm may come to them.

Under the bill, mental health professionals would also have to warn law enforcement so they can determine if the patient has a firearm or gun permit. Law enforcement would then determine if the person “has become subject to any of the disabilities … that would disqualify the patient from owning a firearm.”

The other firearm seizure bill, NJ A 1217 (18R), would allow a police officer, family member or household member of a gun owner who “poses a significant danger of bodily injury to self or others” to file a petition with law enforcement or state Superior Court for a temporary “extreme risk” protective order, allowing authorities to seize the weapon. The court would have to hear the petition within 10 days, and would decide whether to apply a one-year order keeping the person from possessing the firearms. Petitioners would be able to extend the order if petitioned by family members. The bill passed 59-12 with six abstentions.

The other bills would:

— Roll back Christie’s regulative changes that made it slightly easier to qualify for a concealed carry permit in New Jersey by expanding the definition of “justifiable need.” The bill, NJ A 2758 (18R), passed 48-26 with two abstentions. Republicans complained that as it stands, it’s next to impossible to get a concealed carry permit in New Jersey if you’re not retired law enforcement. The bill, they said, makes it impossible.

— Require background checks for private gun sales. Although buyers in private gun sales are already required to present purchase permits that they had to go through a background check to receive, gun control advocates said this would strengthen the law by conducting background checks at the point of sale. To do that, the sales would need to be conducted through a licensed firearms dealer. The bill, NJ A 2757 (18R), which exempts sales between family members, antique collectors and law enforcement officers, passed 62-9 with five abstentions.

— Expand the definition of banned “armor-piercing ammunition” to include a type of bullet that was not incorporated into state law, but is already banned federally. The bill, NJ A 2759 (18R), was not contested, passing 75-0 with one abstention.

The bills still need to pass the state Senate before reaching Murphy’s desk. Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) in an email to POLITICO insisted that the bills “will get done.”

Murphy said in a statement that he plans to sign the legislation once it reaches his desk.

“The energy of the tens of thousands of New Jerseyans this past weekend demanding action on gun safety continues today. I applaud the General Assembly for passing these commonsense gun measures to protect our communities and families,” he said. “I look forward to the State Senate taking these bills up as quickly as possible and sending them to my desk for my signature. The people of New Jersey have demanded we act, and we must.”

https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2018/03/26/assembly-approves-6-bills-to-toughen-states-gun-control-laws-328453