Gov. Phil Murphy

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New Jersey Backs Down

March 30, 2020 by 2 Comments

News comes this afternoon that New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) has backed down from his order that all gun stores are non-essential and must close. His order led to a lawsuit from the Second Amendment Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition entitled Kashinsky v. Murphy.

SAF provides more info in this release:

The Second Amendment Foundation declare victory today when New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy backed away from his earlier position on gun shop operations in the state during the current COVID-19 panic, and will now allow operations by appointment.

SAF sued Murphy and acting State Police Supt. Col. Patrick Callahan in U.S. District Court last week, seeking a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order. They were ultimately joined by the New Jersey Second Amendment Society, Legacy Indoor Range and Armory LLC and the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Racing Rails LLC d/b/a Legend Firearms and several private citizens. Plaintiffs were represented by noted civil rights attorney David Jensen of New York and Adam Kraut of California.

“We’re delighted that Gov. Murphy has reversed course on this matter, even if it took a lawsuit to get him to do it,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Our lawsuit cut right to the heart of what the Second Amendment is all about, which is personal protection during emergency situations like the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the nation.”

Murphy found himself in the uncomfortable, and untenable, position of having to defend his armed protection detail while having closed down Garden State gun shops, making it impossible for average citizens to by even ammunition, much less a firearm.

“While we pursue litigation elsewhere,” Gottlieb said, “we’re happy that the situation in New Jersey has changed. Regardless what some politicians might think, the Second Amendment is not subject to emergency orders, same as the First, Fourth, Fifth or other constitutional protections.

“This is one more example of SAF’s ongoing mission to win back firearms freedom, one lawsuit at a time,” he concluded.

While I might have liked to say it was ScotShot’s guest editorial that convinced him to change his mind, I think it is more likely the combination of the lawsuit and President Trump declaring the firearms industry including gun stores as essential businesses.

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New Gun Owners In Some States, But Not Others

March 29, 2020 by 2 Comments

The following editorial was written by my friend “ScotShot”. He is a resident of New Jersey and a firearms trainer. ScotShot is a NRA Training Counselor, a USCCA instructor, and a CCW instructor. He is also the co-founder with Klint Macro of National Train-A-Teacher Day. He has a greater appreciation for the US Constitution and especially the Second Amendment than many. That is because he grew up in a country which has no written constitution and no such protections.

All of us gun owners across the country have been watching, and shaking our heads with a sort of wizened “told you so”, at the stories of people suddenly rushing to buy guns and ammunition, thanks to this new virus from China.

We’ve reserved particular attention, and rightly so, for our more liberal brothers and sisters who previously eschewed firearms ownership. In most states, the worst they’ve had to deal with is a long line, or perhaps a government mandated waiting period. Oh and yup, the mental butt hurt that comes from realizing that their favorite 2A loophole (the internet, gunshows, the gun-fairy..) doesn’t exist. You’d think they’d be pleased, except now they’re learning the hard way.

Of course, in some States, it’s even more difficult, which makes the residents of those States more at the mercy of their Government. Let’s consider what the situation is in New Jersey, which vies with California to have the most restrictive death-grip on the 2nd Amendment Rights of  its Citizens.

In New Jersey, if you want to buy a firearm for the first time, you need to apply for and obtain a “Firearms Purchaser Identification Card”, the FPID card. Getting one is tedious but straightforward, but usually takes around three months. So, right there, people who want to buy their first firearm in NJ as a result of this viral crisis are, as they say, S.O.L. So, no lines of frustrated gun-newbs in NJ.

“BUT!”, you say, “at least existing gun owners can get a handgun, all those over-under-only hunters and skeeters, can still protect themselves, right?” Sadly, no; to buy a handgun, FPID holders must first get a “Permit to Purchase a Pistol.” Getting one (or two, or as many as you want), is tedious but straightforward and yes you guessed it, usually takes around three months. So, no handgun for you, Elmer; you’d best resort to the Biden Protocol. Oh, you can only get one handgun a month, so too bad if something dramatic happens and you need more, like now.

Photo from Gov. Phil Murphy’s Facebook page

Nevertheless, law-abiding FPID card owners flooded their local FFLs and consequently flooded the NICS system. Enter villain number two, the NJ State NICS System. NJ is one of the states that gets between its gun-buyers and the Federal NICS system. Soon, the NJ NICS had a backlog of over 1,000 applications and then quickly announced that it was swamped and was unlikely to be able to process these in anything other than geological time. Then, the Governor closed the NJ NICS system, after not protecting gun stores and training facilities as essential, mandating their closure. Now, that’s no guns for anyone.

On Saturday March 21, 2020, Governor Phil Murphy announced he is putting New Jersey in lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus. Per Executive Order 107, he is ordering the residents of New Jersey to stay home, directing all non-essential retail businesses closed to the public. At this time, the order includes New Jersey Firearms State Licensed Dealers. The New Jersey State Police NICS Unit is directing the vendor of the NICS Online Application (NICUSA) to turn off the NICS Online Services for submitting NICS transactions by eliminating the “Request Form” button, effective 9:00pm EST, Saturday, March 21, 2020. You will still have the ability to view the message board and the status of previously submitted transactions. This “Request Form” feature will remain off until further order by Governor Murphy.

All of this of course, against a background of a governmental supermajority that supports even greater restrictions on 2A rights, firearm types and features, ammunition registrations and so on.

Hopefully, our new brothers and sisters in most states are getting what they want, and feel secure. Hopefully, they will go forward from this viral crisis and obtain proper training on the safe and efficient handling and use of their chosen firearms and hopefully, that will be happening all across our great country. It’s won’t be happening in New Jersey though. In New Jersey, the State Government will use this crisis to increase its grip on the lives of the people who live here, and their dependency on the government spoon.

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“Murphy Mags” And How To Avoid Arrest In New Jersey

December 13, 2018 by 8 Comments

As of Monday, December 10th, if you possess a standard capacity magazine that holds more than 10 rounds in the state of New Jersey, you could be found guilty of a Class 4 Felony, spend up to 18 months in prison, lose your voting rights, and be subject to a lifetime ban on firearm ownership. Your options were to destroy the magazines, turn them into police, or remove them out of state. There was no grandfathering under the law nor was there any compensation for what arguably is a taking.

Gun rights attorney Evan F. Nappen is the acknowledged authority on New Jersey gun law. He has just written a guide on what to expect from the police and prosecutors and how to protect yourself.

Here are the action steps he encourages all New Jersey gun owners to take:

Action Items:

  1. Make sure that your friends and family are aware of this potential threat.
  2. Make sure that your friends and family are aware of the implications of talking with the police and consenting to searches.
  3. Make sure that you do not have in your possession any Murphy Mags or other prohibited items.
  4. Make sure that you, your family and your friends have the mindset to stand on your rights!

 While he thinks police raids are not likely to occur and that police will use other means such as computerized databases, demand letters, and the like, there are scenarios and reasons, in his opinion, where a police raid, with or without a warrant, might take place.

  1. Some highly publicized mass shooting occurs, and the knee-jerk, politically expedient reaction is to go after Murphy Mag possessors.
  2. Murphy’s failure to aggressively enforce his ban, gives his political challengers the opportunity to call him out on it. There is already pressure on Murphy to explain how he intends to enforce the ban. Breitbart News also reached out to Murphy’s press secretary, Daniel Bryan, about enforcement of the ban. He confirmed that the Governor “…had not ruled out house-to-house enforcement of the ban either.”
  3. New Jersey has a computerized database of registered gun owners & their registered handguns which includes make and model. Many of these handguns came with Murphy Mags. For example, 15 round magazines came standard with the Glock Model 19, Beretta Model 92 and SIG Model P226, just to name three commonly possessed handguns.
  4. New Jersey has a long history of abusing gun owners, creating “gun law victims” (destroying people’s lives with arbitrary gun laws) and undermining Second Amendment rights.
  5. New Jersey has a liberal news media which actively acts as the propaganda arm for the anti-gun-rights movement.
  6. New Jersey law enforcement will obey orders and enforce the law, rather than lose their jobs & pensions.

I suggest reading Evan’s entire guide posted to his website. Moreover, if you live in New Jersey, I suggest studying it carefully, plan your response in advance, and make your family including kids aware of the family plan. As Michael Bane said on his podcast today, the law isn’t enforced until is. Don’t be that guy who Murphy uses as the example to cow the rest of New Jersey gun owners into compliance.

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Democrat State Party Platforms – Montana To New Jersey

October 15, 2018 by

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The series on the state party platforms of the Democrat Party continues with Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.

Montana

The Montana Democrat Platform addresses firearms in the section on Hunting, Fishing, and Outdoor Recreation and in the section on Crime and Punishment. Under the Hunting section, it says:

The right to keep and bear arms as defined in both the Montana and the U.S. Constitutions.

That section goes on to say that they support public hunting as a game management tool.

The Crime and Punishment section says this regarding firearms:

Responsible ownership of firearms, including gun safety practices and the education and
supervision of children in the use of firearms.

That sounds good until you read their action agenda which says they will “Advocate policies that address and prevent gun violence.” The very use of the word “gun violence” (sic) indicates to me that they are blaming the firearm and not the person misusing it.

Nebraska

While Montana Democrats are somewhat circumspect about advocating for gun control, Nebraska Democrats are anything but circumspect.  Their platform calls for gun bans, a raise in the age to purchase a firearm to 21, red flag laws, an end to state preemption, and the elimination of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act among other things.

From the 2018-202 Nebraska Democratic Party platform on firearms:

Firearms and
Gun Violence
Prevention

Nebraska Democrats recognize that gun violence is a serious problem that claims the lives of
tens
of thousands of Americans per year, injures many more, traumatizes countless others,
and
disproportionately impacts communities of color. We support the right of Americans to live
free
of gun violence. We recognize that gun violence is the consequence of an inadequately
regulated
consumer
market.


We support the repeal of the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
(PLCAA),

which offers special immunities from liability to gun
manufacturers and sellers and
deprives
injured persons from their right to legal remedy in the
courts.



Nebraska Democrats support the right of communities to respond democratically to gun
violence
by passing local ordinances to address their needs. If gun
s are owned, they must be
used
responsibly. We support criminal and civil liability for those who do not safely secure their
guns.

We support a tax on weapons and ammunition to fund school security
measures.



We agree with the American Medical Association
’s proposals regarding firearms: limiting
the

purchase of guns to individuals 21 and over; supporting legislation that allows relatives
of

suicidal people or those who have threatened imminent violence to seek court
–
ordered
removal

of guns from the home; requesting better training for physicians to recognize patients at risk
for

suicide; and ensuring domestic abusers do not have access to
firearms.



The Nebraska Democratic Party further supports the American Academy of Pediatrics’
proposals to enact a strong, effective assault weapons ban, require mandatory background checks
and
waiting periods of all firearm purchases, enact a ban on high
–
capacity magazines, enact
strong
handgun regulations, and require safe firearm storage under federal
law.



We support scientific research into gun violence by the National Institutes of Health, the
Centers
for Disease Control, and other research
agencies.

Nevada

 It should come as no surprise that Nevada Democrats have gone full on gun control. They supported Bloomberg’s universal background check initiative and now are calling for much more gun control after last year’s Mandalay Bay murders. The days of a more libertarian approach to firearms by Nevada Democrats is long over especially with the number of immigrants from California. As to the Mandalay Bay murders, a motive is still not known and all the firearms were purchased legally including the bump fire stocks.

From the 2018 Nevada Democratic Party Platform:

GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION


We support common sense gun safety and gun violence
prevention measures, because what happened on 1 October must
never happen again.


We support the right to bear arms in a responsible manner.
We oppose
“Stand Your Ground” laws.
We support banning bump stocks or any device
that makes a semi
–
automatic weapon fire like an automatic weapon. We
support a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. We support
outlawing guns
on school campuses and keeping guns out of public and
government buildings. We support technology aimed at keeping children
safe and ensuring that firearms are stored safely in gun owners’ homes.
We
support the implementation and enforcement of the ballot
initiative that was
approved by the voters in 2016 to close the gun show loophole.
We oppose
any efforts by the Nevada Legislature to make it easier for potentially
dangerous people like convicted domestic abusers
,
violent criminals
,
stalkers
,
and those lawfully adjudicated as mentally ill to have easier access
to weapons. We support strict standards on reciprocity laws in Nevada that
protect our families and visitors. We support reporting gun injuries and
deaths as community health problems, and keeping statistics and studying
those statistics as a public health issue.

New Hampshire

The days of New Hampshire being the bedrock of New England conservatism is over. You can thank tax-avoiding migrants from Massachusetts for this. The New Hampshire Democratic Party’s platform does reflect this. I will say I’m a bit surprised that they haven’t called for an end to constitutional carry but that could reflect its popularity with voters.

From the NH Democratic Party 2018 final platform:

  • We believe
    in universal background checks
    to protect our communities from gun
    violence.
  • We believe that military
    –
    style weapons, bump stocks, and high
    –
    capacity magazine
    s do
    not belong on our streets.
  • We believe in the establishment of gun
    –
    free zones in certain public places, such as
    schools
    ,
    as a means of reducing gun violence.
  • We support a ban on guns in and on the floor of our State House
    for the safety of our
    residents, guests
    ,
    and children
    who
    visit
    .

I do hate to break it to whomever wrote this platform but so-called gun-free zones do not reduce “gun violence”. They only put law abiding people at risk from predators and other psychopaths.

New Jersey

I think it was gun law attorney Evan Nappen who once said New Jersey is where gun rights go to die. He’s probably right. The NJ Democratic Party doesn’t publish a platform and according to Ballotpedia uses the Democratic National Committee’s platform. Given that, let’s look at the platform of Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) when it comes to guns. He’s the key figure in state government so could have to the biggest – and worst – impact on gun rights in the Garden State. It includes a laundry list of things ranging from taxes on guns to so-called smart guns (sic).


In his 2017 campaign platform, he said:

Specifically, as governor Phil Murphy would:

  • Sign commonsense legislation that Christie vetoed: Phil Murphy would start by signing every piece of gun violence prevention legislation that Governor Christie has vetoed. These bills would have enacted bipartisan and sensible solutions, such as keeping guns out of the hands of gang members and domestic abusers.


  • Mandate gun safety training: No one should be able to purchase a firearm without first attending a gun safety training course.

  • Promote smart gun technology: We must regain our position as a leader in the smart gun movement by requiring all gun retailers to carry at least one smart gun once they are commercially available.

  • Keep guns out of the hands of those suffering with mental illness: New Jersey already requires background checks, but it should follow the lead of nearly half the states in the U.S. and require timely reporting of mental illness episodes to the national background check database.

  • Tax gun sales to prevent violence: All gun sales should be subject to a tax that will fund law enforcement, drug treatment centers, and mental health services.

  • Strengthen regulations on gun transfers: Phil Murphy would make it a crime to sell guns without conducting a mandatory background check, and would require individuals to register their firearms kept in the state.

  • Work with neighboring states to promote gun violence prevention: An estimated 80 percent of guns involved in crimes in New Jersey come from out of state. As governor, Phil Murphy will engage partners in neighboring states to find common ground on gun violence prevention efforts.

  • Direct the Attorney General to vigorously defend our gun laws: Governor Christie has allowed the Attorney General’s office to relax enforcement of our gun safety laws, including laws that prohibit illegally transporting guns into New Jersey from out of state. As governor, Phil Murphy would direct the Attorney General to vigorously defend and enforce our gun laws, rather than to act as an agent of the NRA.

With the exception of getting tough on gang members, there is not a thing in that list which would reduce criminal misuse of firearms. It is aimed at the law-abiding gun owner and not the criminal. As we have also seen, Murphy is actively anti-hunting with his ad hoc ban on hunting of bears on state lands. Murphy doesn’t even pretend to make lip service about supporting hunters.