Townhall has covered how in recent months, Democratic governors have passed sweeping gun control measures. In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed a bill raising the age requirement to purchase a firearm and rolled back legal protections for the firearm industry. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed legislation strengthening background checks and storage requirements. However, in another blue state, a judge recently slapped down requirements that targeted gun owners.
This week, a federal judge blocked several components of a newly-enacted gun control law in New Jersey.
According to Politico, U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, suspended impending requirements that gun carriers purchase “liability insurance,” the first statewide mandate of its kind.
In addition, Bumb expanded prior court orders that blocked parts of the law that limit where law-abiding citizens can carry guns. The order issued this week blocked gun bans in zoos, public locations for movie sets, and public gatherings where a government permit would be needed. And, a provision requiring concealed carry applicants to be interviewed in-person was deemed “unduly burdensome” and blocked.
“Today’s ruling deals a devastating blow to Governor Murphy’s misguided law trashing right to carry,” said Scott Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs. “The governor needs to see the handwriting on the wall and pivot from trying to block self-defense by law-abiding citizens to going after violent criminals instead.”
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New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, a Democrat, said that the order is “devastating for public safety.”
“The court now insists that we are powerless to protect New Jersey residents, and proclaims that the Second Amendment requires allowing guns at parks and beaches, in libraries, at public gatherings, in zoos, and even in bars, among other sensitive places,” Platkin said in a statement. “This decision is bad constitutional law and bad for New Jersey.”
A spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said that the order is “misguided and erroneous.”
“This poorly reasoned decision sends exactly the wrong message as our nation confronts another devastating wave of mass shootings that have taken the lives of many across our country, including children,” spokesperson Tyler Jones said in a statement.
In January, Townhall reported how the city of San Jose, California will require firearm owners in the city to carry liability insurance for them. It reportedly covers all gun owners, whether or not they carry a firearm in public.
The ordinance is the first of its kind, according to the Wall Street Journal. It mandates that gun owners in the city have insurance to cover costs related to “accidental gunshot injuries or deaths.”
