Bill Text: NJ AR149 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Memorializes Congress to enact three gun safety bills sponsored by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-05 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [AR149 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-AR149-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LINDA STENDER
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Assemblyman JERRY GREEN
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Memorializes Congress to enact three gun safety bills sponsored by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Assembly Resolution memorializing Congress to enact three gun safety bills; sponsored by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg.
Whereas, Firearms-related injuries in the United States are the second leading cause of injury mortality; and
Whereas, An estimated 24% of violent crimes such as murder, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery committed in the United States are committed with a firearm; and
Whereas, Approximately 4.5 million new firearms are sold each year in the United States, including 2 million handguns; and
Whereas, In addition, estimates of annual secondhand firearms transactions, including sales, trades, or gifts range from 2 million to 4.5 million; and
Whereas, An estimated half-million firearms are stolen annually thereby increasing the total number of firearms transactions to as many as 9.5 million per year; and
Whereas, Despite an array of federal and state regulations that limit access to gun purchases, several loopholes remain that allow terrorists to purchase weapons at gun stores, allow convicted felons to purchase gun accessories at gun shows, and permit almost anyone to acquire a 30-round magazine or other weapon designed to shoot and kill quickly; and
Whereas, United States Senator for New Jersey, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, introduced a package of three common-sense gun safety bills in the 112th Congress that would ban high-capacity gun magazines and keep deadly weapons out of the hands of criminals and terrorists; and
Whereas, It is altogether fitting and proper, and within the public interest for Congress to enact these common-sense reforms that will keep weapons out of the hands of criminals and terrorists by enacting Senator Lautenberg's Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act (S.32), Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2011 (S.34), and Gun Show Background Check Act of 2011 (S.35); now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Congress of the United States is respectfully memorialized to expeditiously enact the following bills: Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act (S.32), Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2011 (S.34), and Gun Show Background Check Act of 2011 (S.35).
2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and attested by the Clerk of the General Assembly, shall be transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Majority and Minority leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and each member of the United States Congress elected from this State.
STATEMENT
This bill memorializes Congress to enact the following three gun safety bills; S.32, S.34 and S.35 of the 112th Congress, sponsored by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg:
1. The Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act (S.32);
2. Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2011 (S.34); and
3. The Gun Show Background Check Act of 2011 (S.35).
These bills would ban high-capacity gun magazines and keep deadly weapons out of the hands of criminals and terrorists.
The following bills were introduced today by Senator Lautenberg to address the gaping holes in U.S. gun safety laws:
The first bill, the "Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act," (S.32), would prohibit the manufacture and sale of ammunition magazines that have a capacity of, or could be readily converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
The second bill, the "Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Criminals Act," (S.34), would close a dangerous loophole known as the "Terror Gap" that prevents law enforcement from stopping a person on the terrorist watch list from obtaining firearms or explosives. It would provide the United States Attorney General with authority to deny the transfer of a firearm or issuance of a firearm or explosives license when a background check reveals that the purchaser is a known or suspected terrorist and the Attorney General reasonably believes that the person may use a firearm or explosives in connection with terrorism. An investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that between February 2004 and February 2010, there were 1,119 cases in which individuals on the Terror Watch List were cleared to purchase a gun or explosive.
The third bill, the "Gun Show Background Check Act," ( S.35), would close the gun show loophole that allows guns to be sold, even to criminals and terrorists, without background checks at gun shows. It would require that sellers at gun shows perform the same background checks that licensed gun dealers are required to perform under the Brady Law. The Gun Show Background Check Act of 2011 is virtually identical to the Lautenberg amendment passed by the Senate in the 106th Congress as part of the Juvenile Justice bill.
This assembly resolution memorializes the Congress of the United States to expeditiously enact these three gun-safety bills.
