A bill has been sent to Governor Chris Christie's desk in New Jersey that would have the effect of prohibiting many fixed-magazine weapons commonly used in hunting, and almost never in murders.
The Truth About Guns has the scoop:
The gun ban that has gone to New Jersey Governor Christie for signature has been described as a “gun magazine restriction“, but it bans numerous common sport and hunting rifles. The ban has no exemption for rifles with fixed magazines, including most common .22 rimfire rifles that are used for sport and small game hunting…and almost never used in crimes. Assembly Bill 2006 bans rifles that meet this definition: (4) A semi-automatic rifle with a fixed magazine capacity exceeding [15] 10 rounds . . .
As Dean Weingarten notes, some common rifles have been modified from an original 17 shot clip capacity down to 15. The new New Jersey legislation would outlaw the modified ones as well.
John Hinderaker at Powerline Blog adds:
This ban on America’s most common and most inoffensive long gun has gone to Governor Chris Christie for signature. It seems almost inconceivable that any state could ban the .22 rifle in most of its iterations, but that is the age we live in. So this is an easy test for Christie: he should veto the .22 rifle ban. If he does so, it won’t tell us much except that he isn’t a complete fool. If he fails to veto the .22 ban, he will be exposed as a phony conservative who can’t be trusted with even the easiest of decisions.
Governor Chris Christie has been inconsistent at best on 2nd Amendment issues, but last year he vetoed three gun control measures. So there may be hope yet in the Garden State.