Two days after a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue left 11 people dead, Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday began a new push to make New Jersey’s already-strict gun-control laws even tougher.
The Democratic governor said he’ll work with the Democrat-controlled state Legislature to enact a second round of new gun laws just months after signing a package of six laws in June.
Murphy called it “gun-safety package 2.0.”
“Gun violence is not a problem we can eliminate through the passage of a single, magic law,” Murphy said at a news conference outside his office in Trenton. “It requires our constant attention.”
Murphy orders N.J. flags at half-staff after Pittsburgh shooting
Murphy said the new package would focus on combatting gun trafficking, strengthening regulations on ammunition, and spurring smart-gun technology in the Garden State.
Meanwhile, both houses of the Legislature passed another gun-control bill Monday, to ban “ghost guns” and 3-D printable guns in New Jersey.
The measure (S2465/A3129) would prohibit the purchase and assembly of untraceable firearm components used to make homemade guns without serial numbers.
The Senate passed it, 31-0, and the Assembly 68-5, with three abstentions, at the Statehouse in Trenton. Murphy must now sign the legislation for it to become law.
Murphy on Monday once again criticized two of his favorite targets — Republican President Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association — for saying that one way to prevent mass shootings is to place armed guards in schools and houses of worship.
“We cannot let President Trump and the NRA distract us from fact and logic with their nonsense that more guns is the answer,” Murphy said. “Time and again, they are proven wrong.”
Some of the bills Murphy pushed for Monday already exist and need to be amended. Others need to be introduced.
They include:
* Measures to criminalize all aspects of gun trafficking, make it illegal for anyone disqualified from owning a gun to buy or sell a firearm, and expand laws to make it easier to prosecute gun trafficking. Murphy often cites how 82 percent of firearms used in gun crimes in New Jersey come from other states.
* Legislation to require every New Jersey gun retailer to carry at least one smart gun — personalized handguns that only the owner can use. Murphy’s Republican predecessor, Chris Christie, vetoed a previous smart-gun bill in 2016.
* Regulations to require photo ID to purchase ammunition, force ammunition retailers to report sales to the State Police, and criminalize the purchase of ammunition by individuals convicted of serious crimes.
* Grants to help cities establish create violence intervention programs.
New Jersey is frequently cited has having some of the tightest gun-control laws in the nation.
But Murphy, who succeeded Christie in January, said he wants to make the state a “national model” for gun safety. The laws he signed in June reduced magazine capacity, banned armor-piercing bullets, expanded background checks on private gun sales, and more.
Murphy said Monday he was already working on developing the new package of bills, but the Pittsburgh shooting spurred him on.
“Once again, a person with an irrational grudge and who had openly expressed hate was able to take advantage of Congress’ stubbornness to close the pipeline to guns,” Murphy said.
He also noted the story of Jade Saunders, a 17-year-old Jersey City high school student who died in front of friends after being shot Friday night in the city.
“For all of these big awful events, like the slaughter on Saturday, there’s a daily drumbeat of gun violence we can never ignore … up and down this state,” Murphy said.
Murphy says he’s ready to “roll up my sleeves” to work with top lawmakers to get these bills passed and signed into law. pic.twitter.com/Vs6xF6Dc2h
— Brent Johnson (@johnsb01) October 29, 2018
The governor was joined at Monday’s event by state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and state Assembly Minority Leader Lou Greenwald, D-Camden, both of whom routinely push for more gun control.
“The work we do is only as good as the tools we have,” Grewal said Monday.
Greenwald said he expects legislative leaders to make the new bills a focus over the next few months.
Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
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