SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed seven new gun and ammunition bills into law on Tuesday.
“We are making Gun Safety Package 3.0 the law of the land,” Murphy said to cheers as he added his signature at a ceremony in Metuchen.
Six of the laws include required training to obtain a gun permit, a ban on .50-caliber rifles, greater data collection on ammunition sales, enhanced penalties for ghost guns, required microstamping of guns when available, and a requirement for people who become New Jersey residents to register handguns and get a state firearm purchaser identification card.
The other new law gives acting Attorney General Matt Platkin the ability to file suit against gun manufacturers for disrupting public safety.
Murphy said these new laws are all designed to improve public safety without infringing upon Second Amendment rights.
“They are common sense,” Murphy said. “They are smart. They live up to our Jersey values.”
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He highlighted the mass gun violence at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, and said these new laws will make New Jersey a safer place to live and visit.
“I have mentioned it before, but it bears repeating,” Murphy said.
“New Jersey has one of the lowest rates of gun violence and gun deaths. There is a reason for that. It is because we are among the leaders in gun safety.”
According to CDC statistics from 2020, their latest year with available information, New Jersey had five gun deaths for every 100,000 residents, the third-lowest rate in the U.S. Pennsylvania had the 19th-lowest rate, with 13.6 per 100,000 residents. Delaware ranked 26th at 14.4 gun deaths per 100,000 residents.
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Platkin said he is particularly looking forward to applying the law about gun manufacturer lawsuits.
“The law that the governor and legislature have worked on will give us the tools to finally hold accountable those who are profiting off of this bloodshed, and I want to be clear to everyone. We’re going to use it,” he said.
“No other industry receives the protection the gun industry has, not the opioid industry, not the big tobacco industry. No one else has this protection.”
A bill to increase the minimum age for shotgun and rifle sales from 18 to 21 years old did not pass in this legislative session. Supporters of that initiative called for lawmakers to get it done as soon as possible.
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