New Jersey

On Monday, November 17, the New Jersey Assembly is scheduled to vote on A2116 -- legislation banning most firearms over .50 caliber. Though previously amended in an attempt to address gun owner concerns, the legislation still bans many popular hunting guns, historical firearms, and large bore target firearms, based on alleged public safety concerns. Ironically, the legislation bans many of the guns that won the very freedoms the bill seeks to destroy, including some Revolutionary War and Civil War guns and their replicas. A2116 makes the fundamental mistake of banning guns based on the size of the hole in the barrel rather than punishing criminal behavior. It treats law abiding citizens who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights like potential criminals. Please immediately email, call, and/or fax your Assembly Members and urge them to oppose A2116! Their contact information is available here.

That's a vote coming up on Monday, folks.  There's not much time to contact your legislators if you live in New Jersey.

One of their courts has just upheld the right to possess an unlicensed handgun at home -- even if the gun was obtained illegally.  The case itself isn't exactly ideal for precedent-setting, since it involves allegations of criminal behavior (which could also be read as self-defense), but isn't awful either.

Hat tip to packing.org.

A New Jersey state assemblyman has introduced a bill that would allow the government to seize the home or car of anyone whose property contains an illegal firearm.

The legislation, sponsored by Assemblyman Louis Manzo, D-Jersey City, authorizes the forfeiture of "motor vehicle, building or premise" if a firearm is found in it that is not possessed legally per state law ? "even if the firearm was not possessed by the owner of the motor vehicle, building or premise," states a summary of the bill, A3998. The legislation was introduced Thursday.

Got that?  If this bill passes -- and in New Jersey that's not entirely out of the question -- than your house or car could be forfeit if a guest happens to have an illegal firearm.  Where "illegal" means pretty much any excuse the police can find, if they want your house or car.  Gun stored safely?  Can you prove it? Maybe it's illegal.  Ex-wife get a restraining order in your divorce?  If so, did you get rid of your guns?  If not, they're illegal -- and you just lost your house. 

They don't even have to convict you; in some cases they don't even charge you.  They charge your house.  Houses don't have rights and don't mount a very effective defense.

This is a policy that has been in place for illegal drugs since Clinton.  I opposed it then.  I oppose it now. 

Hat tip to John Lott on this one.

Sixty people crowded last week into a small room at the Bayonne police firing range to witness smart gun technology. Donald B. Sebastian, senior vice president of research and development at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), stood near an oversized screen displaying a real-time video of an NJIT policeman shooting an experimental handgun in an adjacent indoor range. Although there was no applause as shots rang out, the action demonstrated that smart gun knew friend from foe.

Twenty electronic computerized sensors embedded in the gun's grip distinguished known from unknown users. "We've only just begun and we're pleased to say that we're getting 90 percent reliability when scanning users," said Sebastian.

Remember, what's driving this research is simple: as soon as a viable "smart" gun is available, existing law in New Jersey will forbid the sale of "non-smart" guns to anyone... except police officers, who might need a gun that fires 100% of the time, rather than 90%.

Personally... any gun that doesn't fire when I tell it to isn't smart. It's stupid.

And legislation modeled on the New Jersey law will be introduced into the 108th Congress.

Tuesday June 8 is the New Jersey primary. The NJ Coalition for Self Defense is urging all Self-Defense and/or gun rights supporters to write in the name of Suzanna Gratia Hupp for president, no matter which primary you're voting in. More information about Suzanna Hupp is below.

George W. Bush is going to win the Republican Primary. John Kerry is going to win the Democrat primary. Neither of these is at risk of losing the primary because of a write-in campaign. The purpose of writing in Hupp is to send a message to the two nominees, the party leaders, the media, and the electorate.

The message is that we who believe in restoring the gun/self-defense rights of law-abiding people:

1. Are angry at the failure of elected politicians to move aggressively to restore those rights;
2. Are numerous enough and active enough that our presence at, or absence from, the polls in November can determine whether New Jersey's electoral votes go to Bush or to Kerry; and
3. Though we have no reason to support Kerry, we will be challenging the Republicans to convince us that our gun rights will be better off if we vote Republican, than if we stay home or vote for a minor party's candidate. At this point in time, there is little difference between the two parties, where self defense and gun rights is concerned.

Suzanna Gratia Hupp is a Texas state legislator who is known best for her vigorous support of gun rights. Her other positions are so little known outside her Texas district that a vote for her for president can be interpreted by party leaders and the media as nothing else but a vote for gun rights.

This is a good idea, if you want to do something with your primary vote besides pander to the national consensus, and for whatever reason you can't vote for a Libertarian.

During a phone conversation with an engineer who'd been working on 'smart gun' technology before it became law in New Jersey, he asked incredulously: 'How can a law be written about something that doesn't even exist?' Of course, the answer is easy. There is no competition in New Jersey as regards either the media or political philosophy. But a bad law such as New Jersey's 'child proof' or 'personalized' gun law is easily overturned. For that matter, so are all the lawsuits against gun manufacturers by cities and states. Do these government entities have police departments? Do those police departments purchase guns from the very same manufacturers being sued? How can these government entities sue with the full knowledge beforehand that their lawsuits are frivolous and intended only to financially strap low margin gun manufacturers? Is this the height of absurdity?

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today congratulated the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC) for resolving its lawsuit against the Montclair, N.J. Board of Education, which had allowed anti-gun materials to be distributed in the school, but not pro-Second Amendment materials. "This settlement will put school districts around the country on notice that they can no longer prevent both sides of the Second Amendment debate from being heard," said SAF Founder Alan Gottlieb. "Such a ruling is long overdue."

Indeed.

Montgomery Police Director Michael Beltranena said three events in his community this month are proof enough to him that New Jersey needs a law banning air, gas or spring-powered toy guns that look like the real thing.

This makes me sick. Irresponsible use of bb guns is certainly actionable, but banning them outright is absurd.

Eleven-year-old Daniel Treskunov was under the impression that creativity was called for. For a picture-taking session held on Friday, March 7, students in Treskunovýs sixth-grade photography class in Renaissance School were asked to ýdress up.ý ýýWear a costume,ýý Treskunov recalled his teacher as saying.

Governor James McGreevy signed into law legislation that will make New Jersey citizens guinea pigs for unproven technology. This action will cost more New Jersey citizen's lives than it will ever save.

The so called "Smart Gun" legislation will eventually restrict New Jersey citizen's choice of firearms to only those unproven "smart guns", while at the same time exempting the police. We can only wonder why the New Jersey Legislature has forced the civilian population to be the beta testers for equipment that our lives may someday depend upon.

Much of the smart-gun technology - which includes fingerprint recognition, gun sensors and magnetic coding - is still in testing stages. In fact, the law won't take effect until three years after the state attorney general deems the technology ready for commercial distribution.

New Jerseyýs method of financing police and prosecutors through civil forfeiture is unconstitutional, Superior Court Judge G. Thomas Bowen of Salem County ruled in a December 11 opinion. Under New Jerseyýs civil forfeiture law (N.J.S.A 2C:64-6a) prosecutors and police had been entitled to keep the money and property confiscated from individuals through the stateýs civil forfeiture law, thus giving them a direct financial stake in the outcome of forfeiture efforts.

The state Assembly passed a politically prickly "smart gun" bill Monday, moving New Jersey closer to becoming the first state in the nation to mandate technology that would revolutionize handgun sales.

The bill, which now returns to the Senate for final approval, drew national attention from both sides of the gun debate. Gun-control groups argued that the innovations would reduce needless accidents by preventing handguns from being fired by anyone but their owners. The gun lobby criticized the bill as hollow political symbolism that further erodes the rights of legal gun owners.

But don't expect handguns outfitted with the yet-to-be-developed techology - such as devices that recognize only the gun-owner's fingerprint on the trigger - to be available anytime soon.