New Jersey –-(Ammoland.com)- As noted in a previous URGENT alert, The Assembly Law & Public Safety will be conducting a hearing on bill A588.
Please read the following if you want to see what is wrong with this bill. If you agree that this bill should NOT be considered, and you are able to attend the hearing, PLEASE join me in Trenton on Monday afternoon. Here is the relevant information – The hearing will be held on Monday 1/30/2012 at 2:00 p.m. in Committee Room 16, 4th Floor, State House Annex in Trenton. I realize this is short notice but I only recently found out about the hearing.
The text enclosed between the STARS(***) and in BOLD is the offensive addition. The rest is the statutes as it currently is written:
N.J.S.2C:39-3 is amended to read as follows:…
…Dum-dum or body armor penetrating bullets.
(1) Any person, other than a law enforcement officer or persons engaged in activities pursuant to subsection f. of N.J.S.2C:39-6, who knowingly has in his possession any hollow nose or dum-dum bullet, or (2) any person, other than a collector of firearms or ammunition as curios or relics as defined in Title 18, United States Code, section 921 (a) (13) and has in his possession a valid Collector of Curios and Relics License issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, who knowingly has in his possession any body armor breaching or penetrating ammunition, which means: (a) ammunition primarily designed for use in a handgun, and (b) which is comprised of a bullet whose core or jacket, if the jacket is thicker than .025 of an inch, is made of tungsten carbide, or hard bronze, or other material which is harder than a rating of 72 or greater on the Rockwell B. Hardness Scale, and (c) is therefore capable of breaching or penetrating body armor,
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or (3) any person, other than a law enforcement officer, who knowingly has in his possession handgun ammunition which (a) has a full metal jacket and an ogive with a steel penetrator tip followed by an aluminum core and is 1 therefore capable of breaching or penetrating body armor, or (b) after testing, the Attorney General determines poses a threat to the safety and well being of law enforcement officers because of the materials, be they metallic or nonmetallic, used in its composition or because its ogive, core or jacket are of a design, construction or formulation which makes it capable of breaching or penetrating body armor,
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is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. For purposes of this section, a collector may possess not more than three examples of each distinctive variation of the ammunition described above. A distinctive variation includes a different head stamp, composition, design, or color…
There are SEVERAL things wrong with the statute in general and this addition in particular.
- FIRST – since it is becoming clearer by the day that New Jersey residents may be required to defend themselves from such acts as gang violence and home invasions, there is NO reason that law-abiding individuals should be prohibited from possessing the EXACT SAME firearms and ammunition used by the police. If a gang member wants to invade your home and is wearing a bullet proof vest – you have EVERY LEGITIMATE REASON in the WORLD to have firearms and ammunition capable of piercing a vest!
- SECOND – The Attorney General should NOT be given the BROAD power to determine what is and what is not acceptable for a law-abiding individual to possess. The law-abiding are not the problem as *THEY* will not shoot at a police officer and criminals will not abide by this law and will have easy access to this ammunition in the majority of the states where it is considered completely legal for lawful firearms owner to possess it.
This is simply another example of FEEL-GOOD legislation that does ABSOLUTELY *NOTHING* to protect the police *OR* the public, but which *DOES* infringe on a law-abiding individual’s right to keep and bear arms for legitimate purposes.
About New Jersey Second Amendment Society:
New Jersey Second Amendment Society – Our mission is to promote the free exercise of Second Amendment rights within the community and Legislature of New Jersey, to educate the community regarding the enjoyable, safe, and responsible use of firearms, and to engender a sense of camaraderie and fellowship among the members and their families. Visit: www.nj2as.com
