Losing in New Jersey

Looks like those bills are passing. Here’s how they think of honest gun owners in The Garden State:

Failing to report a loss or theft could result in fines of $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for all subsequent offenses.

Assemblyman Louis Manzo, D-Hudson, said the intent is to force straw purchasers to either risk large fines and exposure to lawsuits or report to law enforcement they’re losing handguns in bulk.

“Taken alone, as they would be for an honest firearms owner, the fines are not financially devastating. But for straw purchasers, who would have to report 10, 20 or even 50 guns at or near the same time, problems quickly start to arise,” Manzo said.

Yeah, I mean, it’s only a few thousand dollars for you honest gun owners who get a gun stolen but don’t know about New Jersey’s onerous reporting requirement. It’s not a big deal right? Not to mention the humiliation of being put through the ringer by the legal system. Louis Manzo can go to hell.

I do want to make a point that a lot of folks over in New Jersey, particularly Scott Bach of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, have worked very hard to try to defeat these bills. It’s worth pointing out that the bills that eventually passed are far less bad than they would have been had it not been for the efforts of ANJRPC. Why don’t you drop Scott a note and thank him for the effort he’s put into this. It’s New Jersey, so we won’t always win, but we have to fight there, and it helps those people who decide to stay and do that on our behalf to know their efforts are appreciated.

17 thoughts on “Losing in New Jersey”

  1. The way I read it, the fines apply only if the gun owner does not report the loss or theft–not if he does, correct?

    If that’s the case, on the day this bill goes into effect, my advice to New Jersey gun owners is to report every gun they own as having fallen into the ocean or something. That way, you’re already covered, and lawmakers get a nice message about what people think of this crap, and how much it’s going to help.

  2. Who are these straw purchasers who are buying in bulk? I don’t think they exist. If they did it would be too easy to detect what they were doing and they would be in worse trouble than anything this law does to them. This is just what almost all such laws are. It is just a finger raised in the air to law abiding gun owners by politicians who hate them.

  3. What, Flash? You haven’t seen those bulk purchasing strawmen? Why, don’t you know that on any given day you can see one or more of these guys backing a dump truck up to a gun store and saying “fill ‘er up”? Happens daily, so I’ve been told.

  4. NJ requires an individual purchase permit for each handgun. Nobody is buying handguns legally in bulk, because no NJ PD will authorize that many permits. The alleged bulk straw purchasers are a myth. Illegal purchases, of course, will not be affected by the new law.

  5. With these bills, those whose goal is to reduce the number of guns (any guns, no matter who owns them) in society are just placing whatever wedge they can behind the door as they try to push it closed.

    Be it a meter, a centimeter, a millimeter, or a micron, every such bill like these that passes, wherever they might pass, represents movement down the slippery slope.

  6. Just more screw tightening/ frog boiling.

    This ain’t about stolen guns … it is about punishing private unauthorized transfers. Up until this point, whenever someone got grief for no longer owning a firearm, they would just smile and say it was stolen.

    The screws want to be able to punish these folks for unauthorized use of the second amendment.

  7. These morons would be happy living under UN rule forgoing the constitution of the United states. First of all how can one make large straw purchases with the New Jermany one gun a month limit. D-Bags.

  8. There’s not actually a one-gun a month limit in New Jersey, but you do have to get permission from the police before buying a pistol.

  9. . . . but you do have to get permission from the police before buying a pistol.

    Being unfamiliar with New Jersey law (you may have noticed)–is that “permission” requirement “shall issue” (does the sheriff/police chief have to issue the permit if all requirements specified by law are met), or do the police have discretion to deny a permit as they see fit?

  10. Unlike Massachusetts, it is shall issue, when they feel like getting around to it, which is typically longer than the period allowed by law which no court will enforce because you shouldn’t really have a gun anyway.

  11. Why am I not surprised (actually, I am a bit surprised that NJ, unlike MA, at least ostensibly requires issuance to qualified applicants, whether the “authorities” particularly approve, or not)?

  12. It’s a pretty sad state of affairs. It’s one reason we can never accept licensing. In states that have done it, it becomes such a hassle to buy a gun that no one really bothers, whcih is kind of of the point.

  13. Absolutely never let PA become what New Jersey has become (total disregard of the Constitution and the second amendment in particular). Because if Governor Ed and Philadelphia city council had their way PA would certainly go the route of NJ. He should consider running for President of France when he gets out of office.

  14. Confirm the nominal “shall issue within 30 days” for a Firearms Owner ID card & a Permit to Purchase for a Handgun. Cannot confirm actual time for either, saving for a handgun now because of the asinine use-it-or-lose it on the permit to purchase handgun.

  15. Born and raised in NJ…left in ’77, stationed there again in mid 80’s as an AF ROTC instructor at Rutgers and Princeton. LOTS of experience with NJ gun laws. Answer to above is, it depends on the local Chief PD. My father applied for a FOID in 1968, so he could buy me a .22 rifle for my birthday. After 6 months of waiting, I called the Bergenfield PD. Response I got was…”we won’t issue a card unless you follow up…we don’t think you should have a gun anyway, but we will take no action unless you show an interest…” I am not making that up. Years later, the new Chief, a decent sort, would approve repeat handgun permit apps within 3 days. Key is, a “decent sort…” Your rights depended on the personality of the issuing official. I now live in Colorado. I’d rather have testicular cancer than move back to NJ.

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