Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-Union) today announced they have introduced legislation (A-3807), which would protect New Jerseyans and reduce violent gun crimes by imposing tighter limits on high-capacity ammunition magazines for firearms.
“The prevalence of high-capacity magazines for guns makes it appallingly simple for criminals, terrorists, or unstable individuals to kill many innocent people quickly,” said Greenwald. “By re-instituting a reasonable limit on gun magazine capacity that has already been proven successful, we will save innocent lives.”
Under the bill, magazines used in firearms would be limited to a maximum capacity of 10 rounds. This bill would enact a state-level prohibition designed to mirror a provision of the successful 1994 assault weapons ban championed by then-President Clinton, which cracked down on high-capacity magazines by limiting magazines to 10 rounds.
“It is abundantly clear that the use of high-capacity magazines has, more often than not, been used with malicious intent,” said Quijano. “By eliminating the availability of high-capacity magazines in New Jersey, the hope is to limit the number of injuries or casualties in the event of an armed assault. This type of measure has been successful in the past, and if we can re-implement it, all New Jerseyans will be that much safer.”
“With the terrible shootings in Arizona recently, as well as horrific tragedies at Virginia Tech and off-campus shootings here in New Jersey, we must rein in high-capacity magazines,” said Greenwald. “If we can save even one innocent life through common-sense legislation like this, it will be worth it.”
The dangerous role of high-capacity magazines was recently illustrated by 22-year old Jared Lee Loughner’s devastating attack on a crowd outside a Tucson, Arizona grocery store. Lougher, who had purchased a 9mm Glock pistol with 31-round clips, killed six and seriously wounded 13 others, including US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). Loughner had fired a full 31-round clip into the crowd of innocent bystanders and was subdued while attempting to reload with a second 31-round clip.
“High-capacity magazines are often the ones used in the most serious gun crimes, resulting in the most serious consequences–fatalities and major injuries to innocent people,” said Greenwald. “In our cities and across our state, gun crimes involving high-capacity magazines have too-often cut short promising young lives. Limiting magazine size will reduce violent crime and save the lives of innocent bystanders.”
A January 23rd story in the Washington Post detailed the success of the federal high-capacity magazine ban, with high-capacity magazines having declined to an historic low of 10 percent of weapons recovered by police in Virgina during the duration of the ban. Since the 2004 expiration of that ban, the rate of guns recovered that use high-capacity magazines has risen, up to a striking 22 percent in Virginia last year.
Currently, the states of California, New York, Hawaii and Massachusetts limit magazine capacity to 10 rounds, which the Greenwald/Quijano bill, A-3807, would mirror.
In addition to sponsoring A-3807, both Greenwald and Quijano announced the introduction of a concurrent resolution, ACR-179, urging Congress and the President to enact a similar assault weapons ban on high capacity magazines. TLS.
how about limiting guns to no one so that NO ONE get killed
Whats going to stop a wack-job from carrying multiple clips?
Silly Democrats & their useless feel-good legislation.
stupid bill it was dead before it started, not even worth giving it face time, Sweeney would never let in for a vote, just a few dems predictably using a tragedy to further their political ambitions
10 rounds is to much
The criminals will just get their hands on large clip weapons, or purchase 2 guns!!
#5 whats a clip weapon
Seems that no law can stop criminals from getting guns now so what law will stop them from getting large clips? The idiots in Trenton can pass all the laws they want but none will stop criminals from getting what they want.This law will just be a money-grabbing scheme by our state government to get more money from honest citizens who just happen to have the large clips already.
no guns! i agree
this legislation is a joke i mean im a legal gun owner and if i was to commit a crime that my legal gun is connected to it would be irrelevant how many shots i get off in a magazine i could load and reload most guns with a new mag in under 6 seconds and i could carry 10 mags on me..to even try to convince the non gun knowledgeable people which in nj is a higher percentage of people due to the strict gun laws and under exposure to LEGAL firearms, that lower round magazines will deter or reduce gun crimes involving law abiding citizens is insulting to mine and i believe any educated gun owners intelligence!! the only thing this will do is have the criminals illegally obtaining high capacity rounds from out of state since they are criminals and they dont follow rules and theyre guns are illegal in the first place and that leaves the law abiding citizens outgunned and while i could potentionally be in a shootout in my residence and while i am reloading those few seconds in close quarter gunbattle leaves me with a disadvantage!!thanks thats what i get for following the law
and btw nj already has a 15 round limit on magazines which this arcticle fails to report so they want to go from 15 to 10 and thats going to solve or deter gun crime issues?? comon this bill is for the gun ignorant people who say oh yeah who needs more then 10 rounds this sounds right?no because youre just putting high cap mags in hands of criminals
we already have anti-murder laws on the books(that could net 25-life), does any criminal follow those? no.
so what makes democrats think a law that will net a few years in jail will stop anyone who is ready to murder??
feel good democratic legislation.
absolutely right Mr Conseravtive !
Hey Democrats how about fixing the real problems, health care, education….. you know something meaningful. How about something to help the people, not stupid, useless Bills.
Politics in motion. Now how could a member of the Assembly move up in politics ?
I know- try to get your name on as many pieces of legislation as possible.
Assembly Budget Committee Chairman (the more words in job description is to impress you) and an Assemblywoman both with a ‘D’ behind their name must be desperate for attention.
The members of the Assembly didn’t explain exactly why “criminals, terrorists and unstable individuals ” would adhere to a new law when they don’t give two hoots about the ones on the books now.
This is feel good legislation .
Here’s some “common sense legislation”
Institute the Death Penalty for all MURDERERS.
Limit appeals to three and they must be carried out swiftly (not dragged out) all within, lets say seven years.
Carry out the execution immediately after the third appeal fails.
Remove restrictions on legal citizens right to bear arms and remove restrictions that deter an individual to protect themselves, or family members .
Enforce laws currently on the books.
Require politicians to resign when they do not uphold the oath taken.
GREAT! Another piece of asinine feel-lood legislation that will limit law-abiding citizens to 10 bullet clips while the criminals -who simply don’t care about the law- will load up with 30 bullet clips. New laws don’t help curb the lawless, they just hamper the law abiding.
it will never work. never has and never will. all it does is restrict the LAW ABIDING citizen, not the criminal. the bad guys dint care about gun laws!!!!!!!!!