Fight Over NJ Gun Laws Heats Up As Murphy Attacks GOP

NEW JERSEY — The gun-control debate among New Jersey politicians got heated Wednesday, as Gov. Phil Murphy attacked several Republican leaders by name in his call for stricter gun measures. But state GOP leadership says the Democratic governor's claims are "false and inaccurate."

In the wake of Tuesday's mass shooting at a Texas elementary school, Murphy urged state lawmakers to a gun-safety legislative package he initially proposed in April 2021. The measures include requiring training to purchase a firearm, mandating storage in lockboxes or gun safes, banning weapons of .50 caliber or greater and raising the minimum age for purchasing shotguns and rifles from 18 to 21.

But those proposals and many other bills impacting firearm safety have stalled in the State Legislature. Despite Democratic majorities in the State Senate and Assembly, most of the recent bills designed to reduce gun violence remain within legislative committees and haven't received a vote. Read more: 16 NJ Gun Bills That Could Impact State After Texas Mass Shooting

Murphy, during a news conference about the Texas shooting, called on Senate President Nicholas P. Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin — both Democrats — to put the bills in his gun-safety package up for a vote "so the people of New Jersey can see where every legislator stands on these commonsense measures."

He also pushed for votes on "every bill seeking to unravel our gun laws," saying the following about several Republican legislators:

"Let the people of New Jersey see who votes 'yes' to legalizing hollow-point 'cop killer' bullets, as Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio wants.

Let the people of New Jersey see who votes 'yes' to high-capacity ammunition magazines, as Senator Ed Durr wants.

Let the people of New Jersey see who votes 'yes' to saying that churchgoers should be able to take their guns to services, as Senator Mike Doherty wants.

Let the people of New Jersey see who votes 'yes' to allowing anyone – anyone – to carry a concealed gun, as Senator Durr and Assemblyman Ron Dancer want.

Let the people of New Jersey see who votes 'yes' to repealing our red-flag law and letting those known to have made violent threats, including domestic abusers, unfettered access to as many guns as they want, as Senator Durr wants.

Let’s put every gun bill up, so the people of New Jersey can see, in no uncertain terms, who supports commonsense gun safety and who wants New Jersey’s streets and communities to be flooded with guns."

DiMaio Wants A Vote Too

DiMaio (R-23) agreed with Murphy's call to bring the gun bills from both parties to a vote, but the he claims the governor misrepresented his bill.

The Assembly minority leader introduced a bill that would eliminate the prohibition of hollow-point bullets — a type of ammunition that expands on impact, causing a more-lethal hit. New Jersey bans hollow-point bullets but allows people to take it to their homes — a provision DiMaio's bill calls "confusing to law enforcement officers and law abiding citizens."

"What’s more American than having a hearing and an up-or-down vote?" DiMaio said Wednesday. "But when he breaks his rule against speaking on legislation not on his desk, he should perhaps read them. My bill actually increases penalties for criminals possessing ammunition."

DiMaio has pushed similar legislation for several years, renewing calls for its passage in 2020, following Roselle Park police's arrest of a security guard for possession of hollow-point ammunition and illegal transportation of a firearm. Police pulled over the Black security guard in February 2020 for allegedly driving with tinted windows and had a state-carry permit for the handgun he used for work.

Prosecutors dropped the security guard's charges a month later, saying his alleged breach of the law was unintentional.

"New Jersey’s over-zealous gun laws have enabled scenarios where law-abiding citizens — in this case, a security guard nonetheless — are being prosecuted," DiMaio said in March 2020. "Unfortunately, those good intentions have bad consequences. We want to fix that."

Murphy's Claims Inaccurate, Senate GOP Says

A spokesperson for the New Jersey Senate Republican Office called Murphy's claims about the Republicans' bills "false and inaccurate."

Doherty's (R-23) bill would allow houses of worship to establish a security program in which they select one person to carry a handgun during services. That person can be a paid professional, such as an officer, or someone else who can legally carry a firearm at all times within the state.

Bradley Schnure, a Senate GOP spokesperson, disputed Murphy's claim that Durr (R-3) and Dancer (R-12) have pushed legislation for anyone to carry a concealed weapon.

"They are not allowing 'anyone' to carry," Schnure told Patch. "It’s only people who are already authorized to have a gun and have had extensive training."

A person subject to a domestic-violence protective order can't possess a gun, and that preceded New Jersey's "red-flag" law. The state's red-flag law went into effect in September 2019. Advocates for the Extreme Risk Protective Order (ERPO) Act say made it easier for a family, household member or officer to get a court order against a person who presents a significant danger to others or themselves if they possessed a firearm.

"Before Extreme Risk Protective Orders were codified into law in New Jersey, there was not a clear protocol for keeping firearms out of the hands of those who pose a risk to themselves or others," Murphy said in Sept. 1, the two-year anniversary of when the law went into effect.

But critics have pointed to New Jersey courts refusing to grant permanent ERPOs to many that received temporary ones through the courts. In the law's first two years in effect, courts granted 664 temporary ERPOs but only 325 "final" ERPOs, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.

It wasn't immediately clear how many times the courts have opted against imposing permanent ERPOs and how many of the cases remained in litigation on the two-year anniversary. But Schnure says the data points to the law's negative consequences.

"By the AG’s own data, the red-flag law has resulted in more lawful gun owners being harassed unnecessarily than guns taken away from dangerous people," Schnure said.

Durr has also sponsored several bills to enhance protections for domestic-violence victims and promote gun safety, including the following, Schnure says:

• a measure that gives priority to applicants for firearm-purchase IDs and handgun permits when a domestic-violence restraining order is in place.
• establishing a gross-income-tax credit for the cost of gun-education programs.
• creating a grant program within the Department of Education for promoting responsible gun ownership.