Proposed Legislation in D.C. and New Jersey
SCOPE tries to keep you updated on the never-ending attempts in New York State to void the 2nd Amendment. Once in a while we need to look beyond our borders to see what else is happening.
2nd Amendment defenders can’t help but notice the difference between Republican dominated legislatures and Democrat dominated legislatures.
For instance, at the federal level, where the Republicans have a majority:
The Firearms Policy Coalition reports that the Senate Finance Committee has proposed firearm and tax reforms as part of the budget reconciliation package, including:
Removing suppressors, short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and “any other weapons” (AOWs) from the definition of firearm under the National Firearms Act. (NFA)
Redefining the term “Firearm” to include only machineguns and destructive devices!
Eliminating the legal basis and requirement for taxing, registering, or restricting these items under the NFA!
Eliminating the government’s authority to classify shotguns as destructive devices
Eliminating the $5 transfer tax for AOWs
Preempting state and local registration or licensing laws that rely solely on NFA classification, so long as the owner acquired the item in compliance with federal (GCA) requirements
Ensuring that owners of SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs don’t run afoul of state and local laws requiring registration or licensing requirement under the NFA as long as they lawfully acquire or possess them under other federal laws!
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Then there are the Democrat dominated state legislatures:
Anti-2A legislatures have a habit of following each other’s lead, so what we see in Democrat run states like California or New Jersey is probably not far from New York. The Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC) reports and describes the following list of gun bills being voted on by the NJ Senate, on Thursday:
S3894 creates a crime for possession of digital instructions to illegally manufacture firearms or firearm components. (You don’t have to produce a gun or component, just have a digital file on your computer.)
S3895 establishes the crime of reckless discharge, which is a swipe at concealed carry. Every time a firearm is used, even in legitimate self-defense situations, prosecutors will have more tools to harass law-abiding gun owners.
S3896 This bill is another attempt to criminalize lawful self-defense with a firearm. It allows possible prosecution for self-defense where a firearm is discharged.
S3706 mandates the use of Merchant Category Codes. This can be used to create a firearms registry or discriminate against gun owners and lawful businesses. (We already have this in NY State.)
S3900 When someone is accused of a firearms’ crime, it allows imprisonment, while awaiting trial, for an unlimited amount of time. (Do these people ever read the US Constitution, which supersedes New Jersey State laws?)
S1558 Makes it a first-degree crime (up to 20 years in jail) to transport, ship, or dispose of a firearm without a serial number. No exception for previously owned historical firearms that were lawfully manufactured and lawfully acquired without a serial number. (Ex post facto laws are laws that retroactively change the legal consequences of actions that were committed before the law was enacted, and they are prohibited by Article 1 Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution.)
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S3893 This legislation creates new crimes for possessing or selling a machine gun "conversion device." This could mean that previously-lawful devices that cause a semi-automatic firearm to cycle more rapidly (rather than changing the way the trigger functions from semi-automatic to fully automatic) are illegal. It also opens the door to prosecution of vendors from other states who sell devices lawfully elsewhere, but which end up in New Jersey.
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