A lawmaker wants to make it easier for New Jersey residents to carry handguns, and he thinks the state can make some money in the process. State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) introduced a bill last week that would allow residents to carry handguns if they go through a background check, complete courses in firearms safety and the lawful use of force, pass a test and pay an annual $500 fee.
Current state law only gives carry permits to those who demonstrate a “justifiable need” to their local police chief and then a Superior Court judge — a nearly impossible hurdle, Van Drew says.
“You have to fear for your life, that you’re going to be killed, in essence,” said Van Drew. “It’s virtually never done.”
Van Drew owns two handguns — but he can’t carry them around.
New Jersey residents may purchase handguns through a permit process that involves being fingerprinted by local police and undergoing a background check. A permit must be obtained for each handgun purchased, and the buyer must go through a background check each time he or she wants to buy another pistol.
The state also has strict regulations guiding how handgun owners may transport their pistols outside their homes, requiring the pistol to be placed, unloaded, in a fastened case and carried in the trunk of a vehicle. If the vehicle has no trunk or separate compartment, the unloaded handgun must be kept in a locked box out of reach of passengers.
Those rules also apply to the handgun owners who hold special “carry permits” unless otherwise specified in the permit that allows them to have their handgun on their person. Each “carry permit” is tailored to the person holding it, setting the specific hours in a day, days in a week and the exact locations and circumstances in which a handgun owner may carry his or her gun. Read more in Star Ledger.
i already signed. ppl will think twice b4 coming to my house!!!!
If more lakewood residents armed themselves at home we would likely have a lot less break ins… I think the police would also recognize how serious a need there is to control crime if they knew that citizens were now arming themselves and would use their weapons in self defense if needed.
im armed and ready!!!
think long and hard before you get a gun. the thugs that will enter your house or confront you on the street will not hesitate to kill you with their gun, are you willing to do the same?
Dont take this at face value i am in the know heres the scoop.since the two recent supreme court decision saying the 2nd amendment is the individual right and the states dont have a right to deny that right. there are a few gun advocacy groups planning major lawsuits against N.J for not allowing carry permits, once the lawsuits comes down the state will surely loose and it will cost the state much money that they dont have. so along comes this Democrat who hates guns and they are trying to pass a bill allowing carry permits but tacking on exorbitant fees in essence continuing the ban on permits by making it unfordable, by doing that they think they will stifle any lawsuit because they just show the court look we do have a carry permit system and anyone can get one (if you have $500 per year) but what they dont understand is that the lawsuit still stands just as strong. The state can still get sued over this, just as they can for justifiable need under the current system, by charging $500 per year you are denying the right to keep and bear arms to people with out the means to pay for it. the individual right to keep and bear arms is not limited to rich people, at least i didnt get that after reading heller and mcDonald!
another Democrat with a Tax and Spend plan.
# 4 . im not into fighting, hurting or anything close. BUT if someone comes to my house, one of us is being carried out!!!
Most criminals who carry guns get their guns from people who lawfully attained them; they do this by stealing them when they burglarize a home, by robbing someone who has a permit to carry or by receiving/purchasing one from someone who did the latter. So really all your doing by buying a gun or getting a permit to carry is potentially putting more guns in the hands of criminals. Leave the gun play to the police and thieves. Besides even if you get a permit to carry and you shoot someone who robs you, you can a likely will still go to jail in NJ. Personally, I don’t trust people in NJ not to use their gun when they’re stuck in traffic and get cut off or something petty like that.
the point is that we as americans should be allowed to carry them. and not being allowed is goes against what we americans believe. (for all u ppl that dont understand, its like saying we arent allowed to sheckt out meat anymore bc it hurts the animals!!!!!!
no. 8
Maybe we as American’s should be worried about improving our economy for now and the future and fixing the social problems we face rather then passing out guns to kill each other with. The rest of the world is moving forward and we are being left behind, maybe thats because they are focused on their economies and ensuring their people have jobs while people like you are worried about carrying a gun around to make you a big tough guy.
On a lighter note, when the founding fathers said “bear arms” the didn’t mean guns – they meant the right to own the arms of bears, haha.
did you ever kill someone???? think about it
I never killed anyone. But if its me or him, i choose him.
I don’t understand why anyone needs to have a gun! We don’t have to worry about Indian raids, carpet baggers or Billy the Kid. This will only give the criminals the right to have a gun. Most law abiding citizens will not want to have a gun.