The legislation is completely redundant with pre-existing law that makes it a crime to manufacture any firearm (whether serialized or unserialized) without a New Jersey manufacturer’s license. A3129 therefore adds nothing, makes no one safer, and (like several other bills that moved earlier this year), is a waste of legislative resources that appears targeted at making headlines.
The same legislation passed the Senate earlier this year, in a flurry of last-minute activity accompanying Governor Murphy’s enactment of 6 new gun laws in June.The Senate amended the legislation slightly, so the Senate version, S2465, is the most current one.
The legislature is no stranger to passing redundant bills when it comes to firearms issues.In June, they passed a bill banning ammunition that is already banned under federal law, literally copying and pasting the federal law into New Jersey statute.They also passed a bill mandating background checks on private sales that already required background checks.These new laws made no one safer, but did make headlines – and carried the potential for unintended consequences to law-abiding gun owners (as A3129 does now).
A3129 represents a straggling piece of legislation from the first wave of anti-gun attacks that began in February. There are other waves of attacks coming, and they will be as severe as they are extreme, making the first wave pale in comparison. It is critical that gun owners remain vigilant and prepared to stand and fight as these new attacks arrive.
Please watch for upcoming alerts covering new legislation, and reporting on the progress of ANJRPC’s federal lawsuits challenging New Jersey’s magazine ban and unconstitutional carry law.
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About ANJRPC: The Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs is the official New Jersey affiliate of the NRA, and is New Jersey’s oldest, largest, and most effective Second Amendment advocacy organization.
