Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
NEW JERSEY — Recent mass shootings with high death tolls have renewed the gun debate in New Jersey.
Whether to regulate military assault-style weapons, the type used in a spate of deadly mass shootings, has been the focus of congressional inquiries and a proposed ban that passed the House of Representatives.
The legislation would restore the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban that was allowed to expire in 2004, making it illegal to sell, manufacture, transfer, possess or import assault weapons or large-capacity ammunition feeding devices. It has been referred to the Senate, where 10 Republicans would have to join Democrats to overcome a filibuster.
Without a ban, there are no federal prohibitions on the sale of this particular class of weapon. The right is not absolute, though.
Laws in New Jersey, as well as California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York prohibit assault weapons. Both Minnesota and Virginia have some restrictions.
New Jersey, according to Everytown For Gun Safety, "has some of the strongest gun laws in the country." From comprehensive background checks to disarming domestic abusers to a strong Extreme Risk law, the state's laws are a "model" for other states, the gun control advocacy group said.
Still, the state's constitution, according to the National Rifle Association, guarantees certain "unalienable" rights, including "defending life," "protecting property," and "pursuing and obtaining safety." However, there is no constitutional provision on the right to keep and bear arms, the gun rights advocacy group said.
Despite that focus of the proposed federal ban on assault weapons, handguns are much more often used in gun violence.
Obtaining a handgun in New Jersey is a multi-step process that can take a long time, according to a U.S. Law Shield article, and the things a person has to go through "are a lot more extreme — or a lot more thorough," State Police Capt. Stephen Jones said in the article, than in any other state.
For the purchase of any firearm in the Garden State, a person must first complete an Application for Firearms Purchaser Identification Card (Form STS-33) and / or a (sometimes attached) Handgun Purchasing Permit. By law, a person must also complete a Consent to Mental Health Records Search form, provide two character references who can attest to the person's mental health, and agree to fingerprinting.
But all of that still does not permit you to carry a handgun, which requires a separate permit and additional checks, U.S. Law Shield, the "Legal Defense for Self-Defense" program, said in the article.
FBI crime data for 2020, when gun violence spiked to a 25-year high, showed handguns were involved in 59 percent of the 13,620 U.S. gun murders and non-negligent manslaughters.
Rifles, which include those classified as assault weapons, were used in just 3 percent of firearm murders — not quite as often as hands, feet and fists — and shotguns were used in 1 percent of murders. The type of firearm wasn’t specified in 36 percent of of gun murders.
It’s also important to note the FBI data isn’t complete because it’s based on information voluntarily submitted by law enforcement agencies around the country. In 2020, 15,875 of 18,623 law enforcement agencies completed reports.
Because of that, the total number of gun homicides is likely much higher. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows 19,384 U.S. gun homicides in 2020, based on death certificate information provided by the National Center for Health Statistics.
According to that data, there were 443 gun deaths in New Jersey in 2020, that is, 5 per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, from 2010 to 2020, FBI data showed handguns lead homicides in New Jersey, with firearms of a "type not stated" coming in second.
https://patch.com/new-jersey/across-nj/how-easy-it-buy-gun-new-jersey