New Jersey: Assembly Committee Schedules Gun Control Next Week

On Monday, December 15, the Assembly Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on a couple of gun control bills, promising to gift more coal to Garden State gun owners during the lame duck session. Please contact members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and respectfully urge them to OPPOSE S.1425, A.3789, and A.6211.

S.1425/A.3789 purports to go after gun traffickers; however, it could potentially do much more than that. First, let us be very clear: we strongly oppose firearms trafficking. However, this bill poses a threat to legitimate dealers and others who have done nothing wrong and have followed state-mandated procedures to the letter. S.1425 passed the Senate almost two years ago on a 21–15 vote. As we pointed out back then, this issue can easily be remedied to target only real wrongdoers by changing one phrase.

This bill punishes firearms dealers who “reasonably should know” if a purchaser is prohibited from owning firearms. This completely ignores the reality that there is already a strict firearm transfer process in New Jersey, which mandates licensed dealers to conduct state and federal background checks before releasing a firearm. Every single transaction requires a NICS background check administered by the State Police. If NICS shows a purchaser is not prohibited, the dealer receives permission from the state to transfer the firearm and cannot release it until that permission is granted. How is it that a dealer “reasonably should know” something about a purchaser when the State itself tells the dealer it is OK to transfer the firearm?

We have repeatedly pointed out the easy fix to this “unintentional” result (while still punishing real criminals), but lawmakers have so far ignored it: simply change the language to punish dealers who actually know they are selling to a prohibited person, rather than pretending to second-guess honest dealers who supposedly “should have known” a purchaser was prohibited. Bad actors would still be punished with this simple and straightforward amendment.

But don’t hold your breath waiting for this amendment, because this legislation was intentionally crafted with bad language for the very purpose of harassing honest dealers.

A.6211 was introduced just days ago and enhances penalties for “trespass” with a firearm. While this sounds innocuous, it is a not-so-thinly-disguised attack on concealed carry rights. Gun control advocates in Trenton have not kept it a secret that they despise the Bruen decision and will do what they need to do to undermine and obfuscate the right to carry. This bill would use trespass laws to expand the list of so-called “sensitive places” where carry is restricted and increase penalties—up to a permanent loss of firearms rights—for violations. This is an extremely dangerous bill for New Jersey concealed carry permit holders.

Your immediate help is needed. Please contact members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and respectfully ask them to vote NO on these bills.

NRA-ILA will continue to monitor these bills throughout the lame duck session and fight for the rights of law-abiding New Jersey gun owners.