Governor Murphy is at it Again
By George Devinny. April 16, 2021
As if New Jersey is not already among the most restrictive states for 'gun control', Governor Phil Murphy (D) has called for a dozen further control measures. His reason is stated as being that recent firearm murder events have "further emboldened us without question."
This is action that typifies the mind set of so many whereby good people's rights are to be further eroded using the excuse of homicidal violence, committed once again by 'the gun', and probably invoking one of the usual labels such as "common sense 'gun control'". There is of course no common sense involved when measures simply further infringe and can have near zero effect on criminal acts.
From NBC New York.com:
The measures, a mix of legislation and executive actions, would:
• Set aside $10 million in the current budget to fund gun violence intervention programs;
• Require gun permit applicants to first pass as safety course;
• Mandate that all guns not in use be kept in a lockbox or gun safe;
• Increase the purchasing age for a firearm to 21, from 18;
• Mandate microstamping technology so that fired rounds can be traced;
• Require ammunition sales to be tracked electronically;
• Ban .50-caliber weapons;
• Close what Murphy called a loophole that allows those moving to the state to not have to meet New Jersey's requirements to get a gun;
• Make it easier to hold gun manufacturers liable for violence stemming from the use of firearms;
• Direct the state Education Department to overhaul active shooter drills to minimize the stress on students;
• Hold a gun safety summit among governors;
• Convene a gun safety commission within the state.
Most of these actions would be laughable if they weren't so blatantly useless for making any beneficial changes - all they do is work on the 'feelgood' factor, which is meant to pander to the anti-gun lobby who rabidly seek to achieve total civilian disarmament.
'Keep all guns locked up when not in use' - so how does that leave a firearm available for self defense? 'Increase purchasing age' - that certainly won't do much to affect criminal aquisitions, which for the most part do not employ legal channels anyways. 'Mandate microstamping technology' - oh yes, that old favorite again, which the bad guys will find very amusing as they use their stolen or black market 'pre-stamped' guns.
'Ban .50 caliber weapons' - got to do that of course, as so many murders involve these evil weapons which no one ever should be able to own, and despite the fact that a rifle weighing around 25 lbs or so is hardly either concealable or very portable. 'Close what Murphy called a loophole that allows those moving to the state to not have to meet New Jersey's requirements to get a gun' - call me cynical ,but there can't be too many gun owners who would choose to willingly move to NJ. 'Direct the state Education Department to overhaul active shooter drills' - oh, so that is meant to increase safety when there is an active shooter in a gun-free-zone, instead of maybe doing something sensible like enabling educational staff to carry.
'Convene a gun safety commission within the state' - being facetious I have to say it but guns themselves are inherently safe. It is those who choose to misuse firearms in violence who need to be dealt with. If of course safe handling of firearms was promoted as a valuable lesson for kids, then we might be getting somewhere, but that ain't going to happen.
Tackle violence by all means but, not by trying to deprive good people of their own means of self defense and recreation with the inexorable and ongoing anti-rights actions.
