New Jersey Pushes for MORE Gun Laws
Plenty of States around the country are rallying to the side of freedom in support of the Second Amendment. We have seen States and counties officially declare themselves Second Amendment Sanctuaries. States pass bills saying that they would not enforce any federal regulations against firearms. States also propose and pass constitutional carry and even go as far as to write into law that any law enforcement officials within the State who help federal officials enforce draconian gun laws will be a firearm and brought up on charges. We have seen the best of the best in preserving the American way of life. Even with all of the positives that have come about over the last couple of months, there was bound to have some negativity following close behind.
New Jersey is known throughout the country as a state that does not play well when it comes to the Second Amendment.
Politicians over the years have been dragging the rights of the people and dragging them through the mud for far too long. It seems that they have not had their fill-in tampering in what was left of the Second Amendment in NJ. I have read through what the current NJ Governor Phil Murphy has wanted to do, and everything he has his sight set on draws concern. The first item on his agenda is “only providing permits to residents who pass gun safety classes and raising the purchasing age from 18 to 21.”
Now I believe that classes can be highly beneficial to anyone who owns a firearm or those who live with someone who owns
a gun when it comes to firearms safety. Proper safety when it comes to a firearm can help prevent any unfortunate accidents and give the individual who either owns or lives with guns a better understanding of handling and using said firearm properly. Stemming off from this subject, we see that the Governor wants to raise the purchasing age to 21 years old. The purchasing age for pistols is already at 21, which would make everything else only available to those over 21, which goes against the Gun Control Act of 1968 (making the age to purchase 18 and up). Placing these roadblocks to limit “gun violence,” as the Governor says it would, does nothing but hinder the ability of law-abiding individuals to own firearms and protect themselves.
There are more proposals that the Governor has introduced, though, that only add fuel to the fire. Following this, I want to
bring to light two more proposals that make absolutely no sense, the first being that all guns be required to be locked up at home. Now this one makes no sense to me. Firearms should always be locked up when not in use. This is just proper firearms ownership and safety. I believe that this is proposed to appease the masses when it comes to safety. I also think that it is made to demonize gun owners to make them seem like people who do not care about safety and are reckless. The Governor also is proposing the stamping of ammunition, so it makes it easier to trace. I find this to be somewhat naive and somewhat harder to do for the manufacturers. A regular stamp would mean that ink could be wiped off the ammunition and engraving into the shell casing would prove complex in manufacturing.
The last three proposals that the Governor has made when it comes to firearms; mandating an electronic database on sold
ammunition, banning .50 caliber firearms, requiring registration of firearms for those moving to NJ, and a bill that would make it easier for individuals to sue manufacturers of a weapon that was used in a crime. I find everything to be highly detrimental to the firearms community. I wholeheartedly believe that is what they want.
When it comes to ammunition in the State, it doesn’t matter what you buy. You are supposed to show your firearms
identification card. I have never walked into a firearms dealer and seen someone walk out with ammunition that didn’t have the required documentation. When the ammo is purchased, the shop has to mark what was bought regardless of their records. This record-keeping is just a way for officials to keep a constant and live-updated tab on those purchasing ammunition and exercising their Second Amendment Rights. The banning of .50 Caliber firearms would be detrimental to hunters in the State who use muzzleloaders when they hunt. When it comes to registering firearms when moving in State has always been up to the discretion of the firearms owner.
What deserves attention in its own right, though, is wanting to make it possible for individuals to sue firearms
manufacturers affected by their product in a crime. This is absolutely insane when it comes to the law. Looking at this, I believe that this is a tactic to try and just bankrupt major manufacturers to limit firearms production as a whole. This would create a problem within any major manufacturing industry, allowing individuals to sue over just about anything that has negatively affected them. This could be cars in hit and runs, alcohol in drunk driving accidents, pressure cookers, fertilizers, the list goes on.
When it comes to the Second Amendment in New Jersey, we are at the mercy of the politicians until we can figure out how to vote in individuals who are not only Pro-Second Amendment but Pro-Freedom. The steps taken by current politicians in our State and the whole country to limit what Americans have been afforded ever since the Founding Fathers fought for our rights against an empire shows us how far our state is but one of the original 13 colonies has fallen since its creation.
Author : Nicholas Torres
