Bipartisan Gun Violence Bill: What Passage Would Mean In NJ

NEW JERSEY — Both New Jersey senators were among the 64 members of the chamber who voted Tuesday to support a bipartisan gun violence bill. Clearing the procedural hurdle means final approval could come before the two-week 4th of July recess begins at the end of the week.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act would strengthen background checks for the youngest firearms buyers, expand the definition of a gun seller and impose new penalties on gun traffickers. It could also give New Jersey and its communities a share of $15 billion to improve school safety and fund mental health initiatives.

The bill passed the Senate with a 64-34 vote. All 50 Democrats voted in favor, along with 14 Republicans — including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the bill's cosponsor.

Red-Flag Laws

The legislation would also make $750 million available to the 19 states and the District of Columbia that have "red flag" laws to make it easier for them to temporarily take away firearms from people who have been adjudged to be dangerous, and to other states with violence prevention programs. To receive the money, a state with a red-flag law would have to have a legal process in place for the gun owner to fight against the removal of the firearm.

New Jersey has its own red-flag law, which 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 Bradley Schnure, a New Jersey State Senate GOP spokesperson, 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 told Patch on May 26 — two days after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers. Read more: Fight Over NJ Gun Laws Heats Up As Murphy Attacks GOP

The Federal Bill

If the Senate approves the gun legislation on a final vote, the Democratic-controlled House is expected to do the same in short order, making it the most significant curbs on firearms since an assault weapons ban in the 1990s that expired.

"This bill would represent the most significant common sense gun safety reform law in decades," Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said on Twitter. "We should pass it and get to work on passing more reforms like gun licensing and investing in communities to address the root causes of gun violence."

Many Congressional Democrats, including Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), have framed the bill as incremental progress in fighting gun violence.

"Beyond this important first step," Menendez said June 13, "I will continue fighting for reforms that could prevent mass shootings, like banning high-capacity magazines, requiring universal background checks, and raising the age to buy assault weapons."

The bipartisan legislation came in the wake of a supermarket shooting that killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and the Robb Elementary School massacre in Texas — one of the deadliest school shootings in national history.

Agreement on the 80-page bill was reached nine days after a committee of 20 senators — 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans — reached agreement on the framework.

One sticking point was the "boyfriend loophole." Current federal law prohibits people convicted of domestic abuse from purchasing a firearm only if they are living with, married to, or have a child with their partner. The proposed legislation would expand restrictions to include domestic violence offenders who have been in a "continuing relationship of a romantic or intimate nature" with their victims.

The legislation falls short of measures President Joe Biden and other Democrats sought, such as the reinstatement of an assault weapons ban and restrictions on high-capacity ammunition magazines, but it represents a breakthrough that could turn the midterm elections into an incendiary culture war.

The Uvalde shooting, in particular, had the power that previous mass shootings hadn’t to sway some Republicans to support gun-violence legislation.

"I saw a level of fear on the faces of the parents and the children that I spoke to that I’ve never seen before,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the lead Democratic bargainer, told The Associated Press.

He told the AP his colleagues have encountered anxiety among voters "not just for the safety of their children, but also a fear about the ability of government to rise to this moment and do something, and do something meaningful."

The bill, Murphy said, would "save thousands of lives." Before entering the Senate, his House district included Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six staff members were killed in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Cornyn — the Republicans' top bargainer for the bill — said of the agreement: "Some think it goes too far, others think it doesn’t go far enough. And I get it. It’s the nature of compromise.

"I believe that the same people who are telling us to do something are sending us a clear message, to do what we can to keep our children and communities safe," he added. "I’m confident this legislation moves us in a positive direction."