NEW JERSEY – The newest election-year gun package unveiled last week and pushed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee rankled Assemblyman Bob Auth, who raised concerns that those who have the most to lose were ignored when bill language was being drafted.
Auth further complained that amendments to several key bills were delivered last minute, giving lawmakers and the public no time review changes before Democrats rubber-stamped the legislation out of committee.
“Lawful gun owners are sick of Democrats’ gaslighting. They say they respect Second Amendment rights and then pass every piece of legislation they can imagine that undermines those God-given rights and turn responsible gun owners into criminals with the stroke of a pen,” Auth (R-Bergen) said. “These bills are either redundant or unconstitutional.”
The 10-bill package includes legislation that criminalizes the possession of digital instructions on the 3D printing of firearms, establishes penalties for the sale and possession of machine gun conversion devices, requires that credit card companies track firearms and ammunition purchases, and makes it a third-degree crime to discharge a firearm “unlawfully or without a lawful purpose” within 100 yards of certain structures, whether occupied or not.
Auth echoed gun rights and law enforcement advocates who argued that the behavior some of the bills sought to curb was already illegal—as is the case with ghost guns and machine guns—thus making the legislation redundant. Other bills’ language was so vague that all nuance is lost: the person who accidentally discharges a firearm is the same as the person who purposely fires at a building. And creating a comprehensive, centralized tracking system of firearms purchases is prohibited by federal statutes.
When asked by Auth, representatives from those group said they were not consulted about bill language or potential practical or constitutional problems that will likely arise.
“New Jersey already has some of the most onerous gun laws on the books,” Auth said. “The bills are unnecessary, poorly crafted, and will just cost taxpayers more legal fees as advocacy groups sue to protect their rights.”
