MAYORS JOIN GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES IN PRAISING LEGISLATURE FOR PASSING “ONE HANDGUN A MONTH” BILL

 
TRENTON- Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, Mayor Jerramiah Healy of Jersey City, Mayor Douglas H. Palmer of Trenton, and Mayor Robert Bowser of East Orange today joined the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence President Paul Helmke in praising the New Jersey State Legislature for passing the “One Handgun A Month” bill through both the Senate and the Assembly.  
 
The legislation, which is modeled after Jersey City’s One Handgun A Month ordinance, is expected to be signed by Governor Corzine, who has been a leading proponent of more stringent gun laws.
 
“This legislation is another tremendous step in the right direction to keep our streets safe and our children protected,” said Helmke.  “Passage of the ‘One Handgun A Month’ bill through both houses of the Legislature is a significant development for gun violence prevention advocates across the state.”
 
These comments were in addition to comments made by CeasefireNJ Executive Director Bryan Miller recently in a press release in which he said, “Leave it to sensible Garden State legislators to hold the NRA juggernaut at bay by promoting public safety.”
 
The legislation would make New Jersey the fourth state with a one-handgun-per-month buying limit.  The bill would help stop the sale of handguns to individuals that then turn around and illegally re-sell the weapons to criminals.  The legislation limits the purchase of handguns to once every 30 days.
 
“As a mayor whose top priority is crime reduction, I am proud that during the first half of 2008, Newark had a historic forty percent reduction in murders and a fifteen percent reduction in shooting victims,” said Booker.  “Despite this significant decline, the pain and suffering that is caused by illegal handguns continues to be unacceptable for the citizens of Newark I commend Governor Corzine, who has been a leading proponent of more stringent gun laws and our State Legislature for taking a stand to eradicate the flow, sale, and distribution of illegal handguns through passage of S-1774. Through this unified effort we are moving forward in the right direction in the fight against crime.”

New Jersey Republicans argued against the law’s passage, contending it would do little to deter criminals.  Their contention is that New Jersey already has tough enough gun laws and that criminals will continue to illegally purchase guns.
 
“I am very surprised to hear that legislation aimed at stopping the illegal re-sale of handguns to criminals is being labeled unnecessary,” said Healy.  “The Republicans in the Legislature have made their feelings known.  It is also disconcerting to hear that the Republican candidate for governor’s conservative views run so deep that he would dismiss this important bill out of hand.”

When asked by a Star-Ledger reporter at a statehouse press conference on February 26 where he stood on the One Handgun A Month bill, Christie’s views were in line with those in the legislature when he said, “I think, you know, from my looking at it across the country, you know, we have very, very good, tough gun laws in this country, in this state, and I don’t know that we need any more.”
 
Nonetheless, the bi-partisan, 400 member Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization, of which Trenton Mayor Palmer is a founding member, has pointed to a new federal General Accountability report that individuals on the terrorist watch list succeeded in purchasing guns and explosives from licensed dealers 865 times in the past five years.  Moreover, the organization argues, unlicensed gun sellers and unregulated gun shows have become a major venue for illegal gun trafficking
 
“Mayors across the country have come together to try and identify solutions to reduce the gun violence in our streets,” said Palmer.  “Gun violence is a plague on streets across the country, impacting people in all walks of life  The One Handgun A Month bill is another important step taken by the New Jersey Legislature to shut down gun violence.  Frankly, I am surprised to hear a candidate for higher office would so thoughtlessly reject the notion that we need to do everything in our power to protect our children and keep our streets safe.”    
 
In October, 2007, Governor Corzine launched the Safe Streets and Neighborhood Initiative.  The initiative is a multi-agency, comprehensive anti-crime strategy that has yielded an impressive 7% decline in violent crime in 2007 and a 7% decline in violent crime in the first six months of 2008.
 
“We have made significant strides across the state in reducing violent crime,” said Bowser.  “As the Mayor of one of the most densely populated cities in New Jersey, I recognize the leadership necessary to protect our neighborhoods.  It is vital that we continue forward with our state-wide anti-crime initiatives, and this bill is a giant step in the right direction.”     
 
Key elements of the Safe Streets and Neighborhood Initiative revolve around tracking illegal guns; removing guns from New Jersey’s communities and reducing gun crimes; upgrading penalties for gun possession and gun trafficking and new, stringent reporting requirements.  

Since taking office, Governor Corzine and the Legislature have put forward legislation to upgrade the penalties for illegal possession of a machine gun or assault firearm, Corzine also signed legislation to establish the possession of certain handguns as a second degree crime, increased the penalties for possessing, receiving and transferring community guns and established as a second degree crime the trafficking of guns into New Jersey for the purpose of an illegal sale or transfer.