N.J. bills would boost gun restrictions
About 2,000 opponents demonstrate in capital
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey’s Democrat-led Assembly on Monday passed a half-dozen bills aimed at strengthening the state’s gun laws, including a measure to permit the seizure of weapons upon a court order.
The bill’s sponsors cast the measures as part of an effort to keep New Jersey’s firearms laws among the most stringent in the country. The legislation was introduced before the Florida high school shooting in February that left 17 people dead but began to move forward after that tragedy.
The legislation also drew an estimated 2,000 opponents to the War Memorial in Trenton, according to a state police estimate. Many wore National Rifle Association hats and carried signs that read “NRA Stand and Fight.”
“We have to fight for our rights, plain and simple,” said Rocky Mcguigan, 54, of Mount Laurel, New Jersey, who attended with his dog, KC. “Our forefathers did. We have to still do it today, unfortunately.”
Not all the legislation divided lawmakers along partisan lines. One bill to ban armor-piercing bullets, which are already prohibited, passed with zero no votes and Democratic and Republican support after the sponsor explained the state attorney general was seeking to ensure the measure better lined up with federal standards.
Other measures drew opposition from Republicans. Some raised concerns about a measure that would allow guns to be seized after a health professional reports someone is a serious threat to themselves or others.
Republican Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll called the measure “punitive.”
Another measure would bar people who pose a “significant danger” from possessing or purchasing firearms. Yet another would lower the limit for magazine rounds from 15 to 10, with an exception for a popular .22-caliber firearm.
Other legislation required background checks for private gun sales. A sixth bill would require residents to show a “justifiable need” to get a carry permit.
The bills now go to the Democrat-led Senate, which President
Steve Sweeney says will pass them as well.