Testimony of the NJCSD...
NCJSD [sic] testimony submitted to the Task Force created by Executive Order 145 arising from the One Gun A Month law.
Prosecutor Robert Bernardi (Chair)
Senator Fred Madden (Vice Chair)
Senator Sandra B. Cunningham
Assemblyman John Burzichelli
Assemblyman Gorden Johnson
Assistant Attorney General Ronald Susswein
LTC Chris Andreychak, NJ State Police
Robert Nixon, representative from ANJRPC
Bryan Miller, representative from Cease Fire NJ
Ladies and gentlemen of the Task Force, my name is Robert Barush, I am the Director of Legislative Affairs for the New Jersey Coalition for Self Defense. We are a volunteer, not-for-profit organization. Our objective is to save lives and make communities safer, by teaching, training and inspiring New Jersey Citizens to develop for themselves the means of proper self defense.
Our position is that our laws can be crafted to hold criminals accountable for their actions while protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to have access to the tools necessary to defend themselves.
We are pleased to have the opportunity to be here today to discuss the much needed changes to the “one-handgun-a-month law” and other related legislative issues.
Let me first start by saying that there are many issues that the members of NJCSD have asked us to address today. Since we can’t possibly cover them all, and considering that this hearing is primarily about “one-handgun-a-month” (OGAM), we have compiled a separate list of issues which we ask the Taskforce to address as part of your review of New Jersey firearms laws and regulatory processes and to include us in the discussion of each, as we feel we have a lot to offer.
Today we will cover our specific concerns and suggestions regarding OGAM, and provide a general statement that we wish to make on behalf of our members. We see this as the first step of a process of communication and understanding of the elements of each issue and hope that our perspective might begin to put the ‘sense’ back into ‘common sense’ gun laws.
“…to ban guns because criminals use them is to tell the innocent and law-abiding that their rights and liberties depend not on their own conduct, but on the conduct of the guilty and the lawless…” attorney and author, Jeff Snyder
We believe that this simple paradigm applies to all liberties and natural rights affirmed and guaranteed to us by our Constitution and protected by our Republic which is engineered to support and defend the rights of all, especially the minority.
OGAM (one-handgun-a-month). Even the Governor of the State of NJ acknowledges that we have some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation. Yet despite these laws our state has failed to benefit from the same reduction in crime that 40 other states have enjoyed since recognizing the individual’s right to keep and bear arms.
We struggled for many hours to come up with a list of exemptions that would somehow make sense and mitigate the impact that this legislation has on law-abiding citizens. We came up with some great ideas and mechanisms to decide who should be exempt and how the exemption should be verified.
1. Sportsmen – any New Jersey Citizen who can present at time of purchase a membership card, in his or her name or in the name of the primary member if it is a family membership, of a New Jersey Gun Club such as:
* Central Jersey Rifle and Pistol Club
* Old Bridge Rifle and Pistol Club
* Citizens Rifle and Revolver Club
* Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs
* Any other gun club properly organized according to NJ law.
2. Dealers and Collectors – any New Jersey citizen who holds any Federal Firearms License to include a collector’s license.
3. Hunters – any New Jersey citizen who holds a valid New Jersey Hunting License.
4. Job related – any New Jersey citizen who holds a New Jersey Permit to Carry a Handgun.
…but after extensive deliberation, we could only conclude that there is no group of law-abiding citizens that has more or less rights than any other, only a distinction that can be made between the law-abiding and the criminal. There is no exemption that is satisfactory other than an exemption for those who have passed the multitude of checks already mandated by statute to receive an FID card. We find it troubling that our Legislators did not think of this before signing this bill. Essentially, this bill was unacceptable unless some law-abiding citizens were exempt, and now, it is equally unacceptable to exempt only some law-abiding citizens. This law is quintessential failed public policy. Our entire Constitution is designed to prevent exactly this from happening and you missed it. NJCSD believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms for all lawful purposes – hunting, sporting, collecting, recreation, and especially for self-defense. All must be respected and OGAM must be seen for what it is, in the words of Governor Corzine himself, spoken just after signing it, “We have a gun ban!”
Our observations are based upon the following facts:
* The ATF already tracks multiple concurrent purchases.
* Gun rationing has been implemented in only four states, one of which has already repealed it as ineffective.
* The bill was based on bad “statistics” which the Governor’s office has refused to release. I know because I have the denied OPRA request to prove it. They would only tell us verbally that ATF trace data was used, but they would not provide us with the anything used to formulate the basis for OGAM.
* Nowhere in the ATF report mentioned could we substantiate that 28% of ‘crime guns’ come from New Jersey, as the Governor claims.
* Straw purchases already violate federal law.
* Law-abiding citizens, by definition, do not purchase guns for criminals.
* The ATF report clearly states that not all guns traced were used in crimes making the data unusable for such a crucial decision.
* The ATF report clearly states that the ‘time to crime’ for traced guns is not near the time of purchase, as you would expect with a straw purchase, but 12.53 years later on average. This completely obliterates any notion that there were a significant number of multiple purchases and raises the question whether or not there is any evidence of any straw purchases at all. We believe that it is no coincidence that this is roughly the same age as the NICS check – proof that nothing more is needed.
Despite the overwhelming evidence that contradicts the fundamental claims of purpose of OGAM, this law was passed, signed and in three months will create a new class of criminals from the innocent. There is absolutely nothing “common sense” about that. This law won’t put a single criminal behind bars, but sentences the innocent to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine and you can be sure that some that didn’t get the memo will surely pay the price.
But not to worry, they will have company. Their cell mates will be the ones who were prosecuted for possession of the vicious killer, the bb gun, or were discovered with a rifle with the dreaded pistol grip, flash suppressor combination which is known to improve the function of a firearm exactly 0%, or maybe it might be the husband and father who saved his family’s lives by killing a violent criminal with a hollow point bullet, the safest round to use for self-defense, but not so safe for the hero. That family would lose their father to the legal system instead of the killer. Or maybe your cell mate might be a security guard who was carrying perfectly legally when he was on duty at the bank, but when he went to drop his car off at the repair shop, he was arrested, tried and convicted, now serving 3 to 7 years.
Tell me what the difference is between losing your life savings to a thief and losing your life savings defending yourself as you get keel hauled through the court process in such cases. Tell me what the difference is between a child who loses a parent to a brutal killer and one who loses a parent to prison over such ridiculous laws. Why are our elected officials so concerned about the one and not the other? Are their lives not equally valuable? Do you not care about the children in those families? Knowing that you have not fixed these issues, and have instead focused your efforts on another problematic piece of legislation targeting more innocent people, how long do you think the people will continue to vote for you?
Who has done this to us? Who has made us so afraid of ourselves that we are willing to legislate away our natural right of self-defense one piece at a time and send our neighbors to prison, and for what, for stopping at Grandma’s on the way home from the range because the kids wanted some chocolate chip cookies and you couldn’t say no.
I would like to know who has made the ridiculous assumption that we are unable, that we are incapable, that we are not intelligent enough, that we are unwilling or that we are too stupid to learn how to safely handle, store and use a gun. That although we can fly airplanes and drive cars and operate computers, build roads and bridges and buildings, operate heavy machinery or work a cash register, we are somehow unable to secure our own persons and property and enjoy our pastimes safely. Who is it that has convinced so many of us that we are not HUMAN enough to deserve the unalienable human right of self defense subjugating us as mere animals to be tended to by our masters? New Jersey Citizens, anyone who campaigns to convince you or your lawmakers that you do not have these rights, is not only ignoring the Second Amendment, but is tragically mistaken about your spirit.
My fellow New Jersey citizens, I am embarrassed and ashamed. Why have other states proven themselves to be more worthy than us and more capable than us? Why do they exercise their natural rights effectively and with pride and with a near perfect safety record and we bow our heads in shame and cower in the presence of our assailants and send our neighbors to prison. Are we not equal in capacity? Are we not men and women of responsibility and integrity? Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming and Vermont have all recognized that their citizens truly are “independent” with the right to defend themselves.
Members of the Taskforce, we have an opportunity here to work together to correct these byzantine laws and put control back into the hands of the people, where it belongs. We are willing to help. We can craft these laws to achieve our shared objectives of peace and security by sending only criminals to jail and making the people part of the solution. The question is, do you trust them? Do you trust the people? If the answer is no, then the question becomes should the people trust you?
At this point, we would be happy to answer any of your questions.
Sincerely,
Robert Barush
Director, Legislative Affairs