New Jersey could become 5th state to limit monthly handgun buys
2/13/2007, 11:38 a.m. ET
By TOM HESTER Jr.
The Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey could become the nation's fifth state and the first in seven years to make it illegal for people to buy more than one handgun per month.
Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, a sponsor of the legislation, represents Jersey City, which like other New Jersey cities has struggled against street gangs and gun violence.
"I personally can see no reason why anyone would want to go out and buy guns in multiples," she said.
Jersey City late last year adopted its own law making it illegal to buy more than one handgun per month, but it was struck down by a judge who ruled it was it pre-empted state authority.
The city's mayor, Jerramiah T. Healy, is among those pushing for the state law.
"This is really a federal plague that requires a federal cure, but I don't think we can stand by idly and sit on our hands," he said.
New Jersey would join South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and California as states that restrict people to buying one handgun per month. California was the last state to adopt such a law, doing so in 1998, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
The New Jersey bill was recently released by an Assembly committee and can be considered by the full Assembly. The Senate hasn't considered the legislation, but gun rights groups are moving against it.
Scott L. Bach, president of the New Jersey Association of Rifle and Pistol Clubs, the National Rifle Association's state organization, said limiting handgun sales to one per month would do nothing to halt crime.
"We do not believe that rationing guns to honest citizens will reduce crime, any more than rationing knives to restaurant-goers will reduce stabbings or rationing matches to fireplace owners reduce arsons," Bach said.
The proposal comes with New Jersey increasingly concerned about gun crimes, particularly from street gangs. Last year, authorities in Newark, Irvington and Camden seized 114 firearms, up from 86 in 2005. Meanwhile, homicides in Newark have jumped from 65 in 2002 to 113 last year, with nonfatal shootings also on the rise.
One-gun-per-month laws have been supported by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which contends they've cut gun trafficking in Virginia and handgun sales in Maryland. New Jersey Assemblyman Peter Barnes, another bill sponsor, said that's key because guns are now the weapon of choice for young people.
"It used to be a knife," the Middlesex County Democrat said. "Now it's a gun, no matter where you go."
But the NRA contends the laws have done nothing to cut crime.
"To stop crime, you've got to stop the criminal, not attack the tool, because the criminal mind will always find another tool," Bach said.
Craig Dear, a gun collector from Woodbury, criticized the proposal, arguing it would make it illegal for a collector to trade three guns for one, for instance.
"The vast majority of guns that collectors collect are not new guns," he said.
But Barnes, recently nominated by Gov. Jon S. Corzine to become state parole board chairman, said something must be done to stop guns that are "just proliferating in American cities" and predicted public support.
"My Irish intuition would tell me that it would be a resounding vote in favor of limiting the number of guns that people can purchase," he said. "The average person living in the state of New Jersey and possibly the United States of America would say one a month is enough."
2/13/2007, 11:38 a.m. ET
By TOM HESTER Jr.
The Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey could become the nation's fifth state and the first in seven years to make it illegal for people to buy more than one handgun per month.
Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, a sponsor of the legislation, represents Jersey City, which like other New Jersey cities has struggled against street gangs and gun violence.
"I personally can see no reason why anyone would want to go out and buy guns in multiples," she said.
Jersey City late last year adopted its own law making it illegal to buy more than one handgun per month, but it was struck down by a judge who ruled it was it pre-empted state authority.
The city's mayor, Jerramiah T. Healy, is among those pushing for the state law.
"This is really a federal plague that requires a federal cure, but I don't think we can stand by idly and sit on our hands," he said.
New Jersey would join South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and California as states that restrict people to buying one handgun per month. California was the last state to adopt such a law, doing so in 1998, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
The New Jersey bill was recently released by an Assembly committee and can be considered by the full Assembly. The Senate hasn't considered the legislation, but gun rights groups are moving against it.
Scott L. Bach, president of the New Jersey Association of Rifle and Pistol Clubs, the National Rifle Association's state organization, said limiting handgun sales to one per month would do nothing to halt crime.
"We do not believe that rationing guns to honest citizens will reduce crime, any more than rationing knives to restaurant-goers will reduce stabbings or rationing matches to fireplace owners reduce arsons," Bach said.
The proposal comes with New Jersey increasingly concerned about gun crimes, particularly from street gangs. Last year, authorities in Newark, Irvington and Camden seized 114 firearms, up from 86 in 2005. Meanwhile, homicides in Newark have jumped from 65 in 2002 to 113 last year, with nonfatal shootings also on the rise.
One-gun-per-month laws have been supported by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which contends they've cut gun trafficking in Virginia and handgun sales in Maryland. New Jersey Assemblyman Peter Barnes, another bill sponsor, said that's key because guns are now the weapon of choice for young people.
"It used to be a knife," the Middlesex County Democrat said. "Now it's a gun, no matter where you go."
But the NRA contends the laws have done nothing to cut crime.
"To stop crime, you've got to stop the criminal, not attack the tool, because the criminal mind will always find another tool," Bach said.
Craig Dear, a gun collector from Woodbury, criticized the proposal, arguing it would make it illegal for a collector to trade three guns for one, for instance.
"The vast majority of guns that collectors collect are not new guns," he said.
But Barnes, recently nominated by Gov. Jon S. Corzine to become state parole board chairman, said something must be done to stop guns that are "just proliferating in American cities" and predicted public support.
"My Irish intuition would tell me that it would be a resounding vote in favor of limiting the number of guns that people can purchase," he said. "The average person living in the state of New Jersey and possibly the United States of America would say one a month is enough."
The city's mayor, Jerramiah T. Healy, is among those pushing for the state law.
This takes the attention off of his trial for Drunk and Disorderly being held last week. What A Guy !!!