NRA News’ Ginny Simone has more on Carol Bowne, the New Jersey woman from Berlin Township who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend Michael Eitel on June 3. Bowne’s friends said she did everything to ensure that she would be safe from Eitel. She got a restraining order, had surveillance equipment installed, and filed for a gun permit on April 21. In fact, two days before she was stabbed by Eitel, she had checked in with the police about the status of her permit; a permit that is suppose to be issued 30 days upon filing.
Right now, balloons and flowers surround Bowne’s station; she was a hairdresser. Her co-workers are filled with anger, sadness, and disgust over the death of their friend, and the state’s abject failure in protecting her. One of her co-workers said “you could blow your nose on a restraining order.”
Bowne also filed every incident of harassment and intimidation she endured by Eitel with the police and the local prosecutor’s office. One of her co-workers alleges Eitel came to her work and shot up her car windows with a pellet gun. To make matters worse, Eitel had a warrant out for his arrest for violating the restraining order filed by Bowne. Eitel was found on June 8 in a Berlin Township home’s garage; he hanged himself.
This gets back to the egregiousness of New Jersey’s gun laws. In February, a New Jersey man faced 10 years in prison for possessing … a nearly 300-year old flintlock pistol. In Bowne’s case, it was the Garden State’s abysmal permit law that arguably got her killed.
In Jersey, you need a permit to own a handgun (which is absolutely ridiculous). Fingerprinting is involved, but the whole process should only take 30 days. It's explicitly clear in the NJ law books, but testimonies from other NJ gun owners say the real length of time ranges anywhere from three to six months to a full nine months until they get their firearm ID card. In Newark, some folks have waited for as long as a year-and-a-half. Shari Spivack, a firearm instructor interviewed by NRA News, waited nine months for her ID card.
As for concealed carry permits … please–this is New Jersey. You’re more likely to spot a unicorn than to receive a CCW permit if you’re a resident.
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