Oliver & Greenwald Hail First Final Legislative Approvals for Gun Violence Prevention Bills as Push for High-Capacity Ammunition Ban Continues

(TRENTON) – Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald on Monday hailed the Assembly votes giving the first final legislative approvals to bills stemming from the its gun violence prevention effort.

            The Assembly initiated the gun violence prevention initiative by approving 22 bills in February. On Monday it gave final legislative approval to:

·         A3583/1683 (Wilson, Johnson, Wagner, Lampitt, Wimberly, Quijano, Riley) - Creates task force to explore areas to improve school safety.

·         A3797 (Mainor, Eustace) - Requires collection and reporting of certain firearms information to interjurisdictional databases; requires information relating to crime of firearms trafficking be included in annual Uniform Crime Report.

·         A3796 (Mainor) - Provides 180-day window for persons to dispose of certain unlawfully possessed firearms.

Another bill - A3717 (Lampitt, Singleton, Eustace, Gusciora) - Requires submission of certain mental health records to National Instant Criminal Background Check System – had to be amended but was approved by the Assembly and sent to the Senate for final legislative approval consideration.

 

Oliver (D-Essex/Passaic):

“Today represents a key step toward the Assembly’s goal of a safer New Jersey. These bills will improve school security, keep guns away from those who shouldn’t be able to purchase them, enhance efforts by law enforcement and get unlawful weapons off our streets. Still, our work is far from done, and I look forward to giving final legislative approval to more common sense gun violence prevention bills in the weeks ahead, all while continuing our effort to get a bill limiting ammunition magazine capacity into law.”

            Greenwald (D-Camden/Burlington):

            “Getting the Assembly approved bill (A-1329) to ban firearm magazines that can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition into law remains a priority, but today is great progress for the people of New Jersey. These bills would help make our communities safer, and represent the first of many common sense bills we will be sending to the governor’s desk, hopefully to be signed into law. Banning high-capacity ammunition magazines continues to be a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if,’ but in the meantime this is a good day for New Jersey.”