One Gun A Month Bill Signed Into Law.

Well, it's official.  Governor Corzine signed A339 into law on August 6th, 2009.  A339, which prohibits the purchase of more than one handgun a month in New Jersey, was opposed by members of both parties.

“This premise of this law is a fallacy,” stated Assemblyman Chiusano.  “Many New Jersey residents have to wait upwards of 100 days to obtain a pistol permit.  So after passing background checks, getting fingerprinted, and paying fees to obtain the permit, which are only valid for 90 days anyway, government is now telling people they can only purchase one handgun in a 30 day window after going through all of this bureaucracy.  This bill is pure symbolism."

Assemblywoman McHose said it was interesting that Governor Corzine and Democrat legislative leaders ignored pleas from members of their own party not to pass this bill.

Democratic opponents said they were standing up for their constituents against a bill they say would hinder law-abiding gun users, not criminals.  "There is a point that enough is enough and you start becoming both effectively redundant and politically redundant," Van Drew said. "This is not going to stop gang violence, guaranteed."

“I have had my disagreements with Senator Van Drew in the past, but I can’t argue with him on this one,” said McHose.  “It is a shame that the Governor is not heeding advice from members of his own party, but instead is listening to political extremists on the left who disregard the Constitution and continually vilify law-abiding gun owners.  While at the same time they repealed the death penalty and refuse to enact mandatory sentencing for violent criminals like Jessica’s Law.”

Senator Oroho added that this is going to be the tip of the iceberg in the ongoing war against legitimate firearms ownership in New Jersey.

“In a recent Executive Order, Governor Corzine created a task force to examine New Jersey’s firearms laws,” said Oroho, who volunteered to serve on the task force.  “But in less than a month after creating the task force, he is already pushing for new gun laws.  The Governor is looking to score political points among his far left constituency in what he probably hopes will one day be a universal ban on private citizens owning firearms.”

Please remember this come election day.  See this article for a record of the vote in both houses.

Monmouth County Parks Employee-Only Hunt Rejected.

The plan to restrict deer hunting to Monmouth County Park system employees in Tatum Park has been rejected.

The plan was to open the park for deer culling by emloyees who were "on the clock".  The culling is still scheduled to take place, but will not be restricted to park employees.

Read Bob Jordan's article at the Asbury Park Press for full details.

Bowhunting Perimeter Change Amended in Senate - Time for a Vote

Update - The Senate will not be in session again until after deer season has opened.  However, if passed in its current form, this change would take effect immediately.  It does not, according to a source at Fish and Game, need to be included in the game code prior to becoming effective.  As such it is still very important that we get this Bill scheduled for a vote as soon as the next session begins.

The New Jersey Senate amended S976, a bill that would change the safety perimeter for bowhunting from 450 feet to 150 feet, to match the amendment made to Assembly Bill A595 before it was passed by a vote of 61-11-0.  This amendment includes language requiring that the hunter must be shooting from an elevated position.

This bill is now ready to be voted on in the Senate.

As stated in another alert, organizations such as HSUS, PETA and safebackyards.com are opposing this bill.  It is time for hunters to, once again, take a stand.

The NJOA has provided the following link that will allow you to send a letter to Senator Codey, the Senate President, asking that the S976 be scheduled for a vote.  Please, take five minutes and let your voice be heard.

Take Action Now!

SafeBackyards.com - more anti-conservation shenanigans!
From NJOA

SafeBackyards.com is a campaign of the animal rights movement that has been fabricated to create public angst and browbeat NJ policy makers to prevent them from enacting a sound conservation bill. The below OpEd will provide facts about the merits of the bill and also peel back a layer of pretense that may well expose an ugly truth that SafeBackyards.com is meant to conceal.

Assembly Committee Passes Gun Ban!

From NRA-ILA.com

Today, Thursday, June 12, the New Jersey Assembly Judiciary Committee passed A2116 by a vote of 5-1.

As passed, the legislation will ban virtually all firearms over .50 caliber. While the Committee attempted to address some of the concerns of gun owners and sportsmen, it still bans many popular hunting guns, historical American firearms, and large bore target firearms, based on alleged public safety concerns. Included are historical American firearms and replicas, including those from the Revolutionary War and Civil War eras. The legislation makes the fundamental mistake of banning guns based on the size of the barrel rather than punishing criminal behavior.

Proponents of the ban attempted to demonize a whole class of firearms and their owners by claiming the only intent of these firearms is criminal misuse. Testifying before the committee as legal and technical experts of .50 caliber firearms were NRA Board Members Scott Bach, Bob Viden and John Burtt.

Please call and thank the lone opponent of this legislation, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-12), at (732) 866-1695 and thank her for her efforts in defending New Jersey’s sporting and firearms heritage. Also please immediately email, call, and/or fax your Assemblymembers and respectfully urge them to oppose A2116!

Contact information for your Assemblymembers can be found here.

Ammunition Encoding (Registration) Legislation Introduced in New Jersey!
From NRA-ILA.com

This week, Assembly Bill A2490, sponsored by State Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-18), was introduced and referred to the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. 

A2490 would require all handgun ammunition manufactured or sold in New Jersey to be coded with a serialization number, and entered into a statewide database at the time of sale.  Encoded ammunition would be registered to the purchaser and would include the date of the transaction, the purchaser’s name, date of birth, driver’s license number, and the serial number of the ammunition.  The possession or sale of non-coded/serialized ammunition would be prohibited. 

Please contact members of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee TODAY and respectfully urge them to oppose A2490.