According to the United States Constitution, “the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Requiring Americans to get a government permission slip to bear arms (a.k.a., a concealed carry permit) is a clear violation of the Second Amendment. From there it’s a slippery slope . . .
The government can then set the criteria for acquiring that permission slip, denying entire classes of law-abiding Americans their Constitutionally protected gun rights. Take New Jersey. Please!
Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday he’s reversing a policy his predecessor, Chris Christie, put in place making it easier for New Jerseyans to obtain a permit to carry a handgun.
“New Jersey cannot and must not become part of the race to the bottom that we’re seeing across the country,” Murphy, a Democrat, said during a news conference at the YMCA in Trenton. “There are already too many guns in our streets, and simply adding more to the equation will not make us or our communities any safer.”
Christie, a Republican, moved in 2016 to loosen the rules determining who can carry a concealed handgun in New Jersey, a state with some of the toughest gun laws in the country.
Originally, the regulations said residents must show a “justifiable need” to carry a firearm because they had been the target of “specific threats” or attacks.
But Christie’s administration lowered the bar to allow a chief of police or the State Police superintendent to consider permits for residents who can show evidence of “serious threats” against them.
nj.com reports that Murphy has instructed his AG to abandon the rulemaking change.
New Jersey residents must once again attempt to convince The Powers That Be that someone specific is trying to rape, injure or kill them — and then go through the administrative rigamarole (e.g., application, fee, fingerprinting, etc.) — before they can carry a gun to exercise their right to bear arms.
By which time a defenseless, law-abiding citizen could be raped, injured or murdered.
[wikipedia.org reports that “As of the end of 2013, there were 1,212 active Handgun Carry Permits in New Jersey, out of a population of nearly 9 million residents.”]
In the video above, speaking to baying supporters [who think it’s fun to be] at the YMCA, Governor Murphy promises that “this is a step in a long journey in a series of steps.” Consider that a threat and a promise.