Handgun limit stalls, 1 vote shy, in state Senate

Wednesday, February 25, 2009
By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A bill championed by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy that would limit handgun purchases to one a month stalled in the state Senate yesterday.

The state bill - sponsored among others by Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, D-Jersey City, in the Assembly and state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham, D-Jersey City, in the Senate - was pursued after a court struck down a one-gun-a-month ordinance adopted in Jersey City in 2006.

Yesterday in the state Senate, the bill received 20 votes, one vote shy of the 21 needed for passage, officials said.

No Republicans voted for the bill, drawing a rebuke from Senate President Richard Codey, D-Essex. The Assembly's version of the bill passed in June.

In the ruling that struck down the Jersey City ordinance, the judge ruled that Jersey City couldn't enact a law since state laws already address the issue of gun licensing and the city had unreasonably discriminated against Jersey City gun dealers.

That verdict was upheld by the Appellate Division, but the city appealed the case to the state Supreme Court, which agreed earlier this month to hear the appeal.

This is just another example of 'feel good' legislation that attacks law abiding gun owners and does nothing to stop crime.

Vow to appeal smackdown of 1 gun-a-month

Tuesday, September 30, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City officials reacted quickly yesterday in vowing to appeal an appellate court ruling issued yesterday morning that affirmed a lower court's decision striking down the city's one-gun-a-month ordinance.

At a news conference in front of City Hall, city attorney Bill Matsikoudis said the appeal to the state Supreme Court would be based on the state's well-established principle of "home rule," which he said specifically allows municipalities to "regulate and prohibit" the sale of firearms as they see fit.

"We know the first order of business of any government . is protection of its citizens," said Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy, flanked by gun control advocates and City Council members.

"This legislation is aimed at illegal guns - one handgun, per person, per month. That seems pretty reasonable."

Adopted two years ago, the law was struck down in January 2007 by state Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli on the grounds that state laws already establish "uniform procedures and requirements for the purchase and sale of firearms and issuance of permits."

In addition to filing the court appeal, city officials are also pushing one-gun-a-month legislation at the state level.

Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, D-Jersey City, said the legislation has passed the Assembly and has begun to wend its way through the state Senate.

But according to representatives of Ceasefire NJ, whose president, Bryan Miller, also spoke yesterday, the bill lacks sufficient support in the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee to be introduced on Thursday.

The city's law was challenged by Frank Caso, Jersey City's only current gun dealer, and the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, which is affiliated with the National Rifle Association.

Caso couldn't be reached to comment, but Scott Bach, president of the rifle association, applauded the appellate court ruling.

"We're pleased that the court has affirmed our position, and that the door to an inconsistent patchwork of local laws has been closed," Bach said in a statement. "New Jersey needs tough laws that severely punish violent criminal behavior with guns, not more regulations that impact only honest gun owners and do little to impact crime."

City officials said that Caso's Gun-O-Rama shop on Danforth Avenue engaged in 371 multiple gun sales between 1995 and Dec. 31, 2000. Of those guns, 87 were traced to crimes, they said. Caso's store ranked 10th in multiple sales in the state, officials said.

The City Council approved these ordinances back in June 2006 fully knowing and being advised it would not sustain a challenge.

The council comments with NO dissent, basically affirmed that this was a gesture showing they wanted to do something about the gun issue.

While the intent may have been worthy, proceeding was a waste of taxpayer money.

Healy If you are reading this post You can go shove it. Law biding citizens rarely commit crimes with legally purchased handguns. So the law was useless anyway. Not one legally purchased handgun has ever been used by a lawbiding citizen in a crime in Jersey City, EVER ! I think there are 150,000 registered guns in jersey city too.

Good. I like to buy my guns by the case. It's cheaper that way.

Posted on 1010wins

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Jersey City's controversial handgun limit has been struck down in court.

A state appeals court on Monday agreed that the 2006 law limiting Jersey City residents to no more than one handgun purchase per month was invalid because it contradicted state law.

New Jersey allows residents to buy unlimited handguns with no time limit as long as they have a separate permit for each purchase.

A state gun association filed the lawsuit.

In Monday's ruling, the judges wrote that cities don't have the authority to make their own laws governing the purchase of firearms. The judges also questioned whether the Jersey City law would have an impact on public safety.