Senator Brian P. Stack (D) – District 33 (Hudson)
Two bills targeting handgun ammunition were quietly introduced in the NJ State Senate by Senator Brian P. Stack (D) last week. The bills serve no real purpose it seems other than to make the process of buying handgun ammunition more burdensome for those doing it legally.
The two bills, S3054 & S3055, which you can read fully clicking their hyperlinks, focus on handgun ammunition purchases.
S3054 would require those who are purchasing handgun ammunition to show a form of Government ID, such as a drivers license, in order to complete their purchase. In NJ, individuals are already required to show either an FID, Pistol Purchase Permit, or a Carry Permit (all of which require a form of Government ID to obtain) in order to purchase handgun ammunition. Apparently that isn’t good enough though. The bill even acknowledges the above, but somehow, the addition of a drivers license to the above needed credentials will most likely stop all violent crime.
Additionally, since we know that criminals do not buy their guns or ammunition legally, this will not stop any crime in New Jersey. Criminals will continue to buy their weapons and ammunition from black market dealers in back alleys across the State.
The other bill though, S3055, is the real issue. This bill would mandate electronic reporting of handgun ammunition sales. From the bill itself it says:
This bill requires electronic reporting of handgun ammunition sales.
Under the provisions of this bill, every retail dealer of handgun ammunition is required to electronically report all handgun ammunition sales and transfers and information about each sale or transfer to the Superintendent of State Police.
The bill further requires the superintendent to develop a program for retail dealers of handgun ammunition to electronically report this information on a real-time basis. The reported information is to include the date of the transaction; the name of the manufacturer, the caliber or gauge, and the quantity of ammunition sold or transferred; the name, address, and date of birth of the purchaser; the identification used to establish the identity of the purchaser; and any other information that the superintendent requires.
The superintendent also is to establish an electronic database containing the reported information, which is to be available to law enforcement officers on a real-time basis.
As stated above, criminals do not buy their guns or ammunition legally, so this is again a useless bill. So the only people who will be dealing with this is gun owners trying to buy ammunition legally and gun stores trying to sell it legally. How this will effect you is the way NJ’s gun laws already affect you: by being cumbersome and creating delays by design.
When you go into a gun store to buy handgun ammunition if this bill passes, you should prepare yourself to hear “the system is down” and be told you’ll have to come back later or in a few days to pick up your ammunition. If anything prevents the system from operating, and handgun ammunition sales cannot be reported, there will be no sales of handgun ammunition. Expect delays (like anything involving the 2nd Amendment in NJ.)
Given that this bill gives the Superintendent of State Police the ability to demand any information he deems necessary, buying handgun ammo could turn into a full fledged data-mining operation. Additionally, if this system is made very cumbersome for the gun stores themselves to operate, they may decide to just stop selling handgun ammunition altogether. Which we suspect is one of the goals of this bill.
Once again the legislators assure and promise us things but once they have an opportunity, they throw us under the bus and this is why it is important to never back off and always be on the attack.
We’ve already made contact with leadership in Legislature and intend to fight this bill to make sure it doesn’t even make it to committee. Join NJ2AS today or make a donation to help the fight. Reminder that everyone who joins or renews their NJ2AS membership or donates at least $5 will automatically be entered into our March Giveaway for four chances to win a custom IWB holster from Titan Concealment! At least sign up to our email list to get updates on latest news regarding the Second Amendment in New Jersey.