Intro and letter to Mainor

[wooly bugger 1]

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum but am an active member on another NJ hunter forum. Given the crisis we're facing, I thought I'd join here and combine forces.

 

Here's a letter I just wrote to Charles Mainor, the chair of the Law & Public Safety committee that will be discussing the bills next week. I encourage everyone else to email every member of this committee.

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Dear Mr. Mainor,

 

I understand that you are chairing the Law & Public Safety Committee, which will be reviewing a large number of gun control bills this coming week.

 

I’m sorry I did not see you at the SAFE committee public hearing in Newark last week, which included a large number of your constituents. I trust you were able to attend one of the others or at least received detailed feedback on their findings.

 

I was impressed by the diversity of the participants on all levels; socioeconomic, urban vs. suburban, ethnic, and political. Despite the wide spectrum of backgrounds, the vast majority shared the same views. In order to address the root causes of violence, we need to address issues of mental health, drug abuse, and poverty.

 

Almost no one expressed support for any of the 43 bills introduced in the assembly and senate. People from across the spectrum recognized these for what they are: superficial measures scapegoating a currently unpopular segment of the population, while doing absolutely nothing to reduce violence.

 

As a detective in the Jersey City Police Department, you know better than anyone the vanishingly small percentage of gun crimes committed by guns obtained legally within New Jersey. (There is a bigger problem of guns from out of state, which are unfortunately outside of the legislature’s scope of jurisdiction.) Keep in mind the gravity of the effect of the proposed legislation on the lives of many passionate New Jersey gun owners. In weighing the bills, I would ask only that you ask yourself honestly how they will reduce gun violence.

 

I will leave you with just one example of a bill with significant negative impact on legal gun owners with no commensurate decrease in violence. The proposal to renew an FID card every five years is a much bigger burden than it may appear. As you must see in your position as a detective, right now, police departments routinely take 6-9 months to process an application that is required by current statute to be processed within 30 days. This time period will significantly increase with the addition of renewals to initial applications. This will be nothing like going to the DMV to update a driver’s license. It will be a continuous headache for gun owners, who will likely spend 20-30% of their lives following up on renewal applications. Every dealer sale already requires an instant background check. This requirement is likely to be extended to private sales, given currently pending federal legislation. This makes the tremendous burden of constant FID renewals redundant and unnecessary.

 

I, and many others will attend the hearing on Wednesday and will be watching your comments closely. We trust you will follow the dictates of logic and do the right thing.

 

Sincerely,

[mcbethr 42]

Very, very well done.

[papercutninja 24]

Thanks for a well-written and smartly defended letter.

[wooly bugger 1]

One more thing,

We seem to have two friends on the committee, Matthew Milam and Nelson Albano.

Check out their semi-shall issue bill.

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/A0500/499_I1.HTM

We need to show them our support.

[papercutninja 24]

Hmm, reading the summary it seems decent for us.