TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Democrats want to disarm the public while letting dangerous criminals out of jail hours after they commit crimes. They’re not just trying to make it harder to own a gun by requiring psychiatric evaluations and home inspections; now they have added a laundry list of deadly weapons to ban.
“In their headlong sprint to try to ban lawfully owned guns all over New Jersey, it seems that liberal lawmakers have authored a bill that could ban a wide range of common household items, tools, sports equipment, and possibly even Grandma’s knitting needles,” New Jersey Senator Michael Testa said.
New Jersey already has some of the strictest gun laws on the books and is regularly listed as one of the safest states in America, but that’s not stopping Democrats and their push to criminalize legal gun ownership and turn law-abiding citizens into criminals.
“Once again, the Democratic Majority is showing its ignorance of the law, the Constitution, and common sense in the pursuit of applause from the anti-gun crowd through a proposal that will do absolutely nothing to stop crimes committed with illegal guns,” said Testa (R-1). “Maybe the proponents of this bill should read the law before they pass a poorly written bill that would turn everyone into criminals regardless of whether they even own a gun.”
The bill, which seeks to ban weapons in a laundry list of public spaces, clearly identifies “firearms and weapons” and does not clarify the definition of the word weapon. That means anything police can deem a weapon would be treated the same as a handgun or firearm.
Testa said the Democrats, who want to disarm and defund the police, are now trying to enact hysterical legislation that will erode New Jersey’s place as one of the safest places in the state…unless you’re a criminal.
“The distinction between the two terms is significant under New Jersey law. As it now stands, the legislation likely prohibits and criminalizes hundreds of common items such as tools, household goods and sporting equipment, and implements used in every facet of society,” Testa said. “The legislation bans them in an expansive list of “sensitive places” – which, as defined in the bill, is essentially everywhere.”
Testa said the proposed bill is not only an infringement on constitutional and human rights but flat-out absurd.
“Once again, liberal legislators have erred in focusing on restricting inanimate objects instead of those who would misuse them,” Testa concluded. “Democrats should put as much effort into holding criminals accountable as they do into restricting the rights of everyone else, including law-abiding gun owners.”