New Jersey: Sweeney FID Bill Scheduled for “Re-Do” in New Assembly Committee on Monday

After an unusual and embarrassing series of events transpired in the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee last week, Democrat Leadership simply stopped a failing roll call vote in progress, pulled the bill from committee and assigned it to another committee where the outcome is most likely pre-determined.  This disgraceful attack on gun owners demonstrates just how ruthless and desperate anti-gun lawmakers are in the Garden State.  Completely ignoring overwhelming public testimony against these anti-gun proposals over months of public hearings, lawmakers have now perpetrated the ultimate snub.  NRA members should be outraged and contact Assembly Budget Committee members to voice strong opposition to the centerpiece gun control bill scheduled for a hearing on Monday morning.

S2723/A4182, sponsored by state Senator Stephen Sweeney (D-3), is now scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Budget Committee on Monday, June 17, at 10:00 a.m. in Committee Room 11 on the 4^th floor of the State House Annex.  This committee consists of eight Democrats and four Republicans.  Please immediately contact all members of the Assembly Budget Committee listed below and urge them to oppose all anti-gun bills, including this legislation.

The Sweeney FID bill throws out existing FID cards and replaces them with either a privacy-invading driver license endorsement or other form of identification; suspends Second Amendment rights without proof of firearms training; imposes a seven-day waiting period for handgun purchases; prohibits all private sales; and effectively creates a registry of ammunition purchases and long gun sales.  Bill sponsors have labeled this bill as a “national model.”  Quite the opposite is true.  New Jersey’s restrictive and failed gun laws do nothing but punitively attack lawful gun owners, while the state’s inner cities remain infested with violent crime.  This legislation is more of the same.  The only thing more embarrassing than this deeply flawed bill is how the process has been handled.

In a stunning display of disregard for the regular legislative process on June 6, anti-gun Chairman Charles Mainor halted a roll call vote-in-progress on this bill in the Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee when it became apparent that they did not have enough votes to pass the bill.  Rather than complete the roll call vote as required by legislative rules, chaos and confusion ensued as the committee chairman and staffers simply stopped the vote and huddled in an adjacent room before announcing that they would ignore the vote and “hold” the bill.  Republican members of the committee protested the deceptive procedure and argued with the chairman.

The upcoming Assembly committee vote on Monday is proof positive that the legislative process regarding this misguided bill is being completely rigged in Trenton.  If a vote doesn’t go well in one committee, the majority feels at liberty to stop the vote in progress, pretend it never happened, and proceed with a “do-over” in a different committee.

Please contact all members of the Assembly Budget Committee and respectfully urge them to oppose this legislation.

ASSEMBLY BUDGET COMMITTEE:

Assemblyman Vincent Prieto, Chairman (D-32)
asmprieto@njleg.org
(201) 770-1303 – Office
(201) 770-1326 – Fax

Assemblyman Gary Schaer, Vice Chairman (D-36)
asmschaer@njleg.org
(973) 249-3665 - Office
(973) 249-6281 – Fax

Assemblyman John  Burzichelli (D-3)
asmburzichelli@njleg.org
(856) 251-9801 - Office
(856) 251-9752 – Fax

Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (D-29)
asmcoutinho@njleg.org
(973) 589-0713 – Office
(973) 589-0716 – Fax

Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-15)
aswwatsoncoleman@njleg.org
(609) 292-0500 - Office
(609) 633-2179 – Fax

Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-37)
asmjohnson@njleg.org
(201) 530-0469 – Office
(201) 530-0486 – Fax

Assemblyman Troy Singleton (D-7)
asmsingleton@njleg.org
(856) 234-2790 – Office
(856) 234-2957 – Fax

Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D-35)
asmwimberly@njleg.org
(973) 925-7061 – Office
(973) 247-2457 – Fax

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-13)
asmoscanlon@njleg.org
(732) 933-1591 – Office
(732) 933-1598 – Fax

Assemblyman Anthony Bucco (R-25)
asmbucco@njleg.org
(973) 927-2526 – Office
(973) 927-2529 – Fax

Assemblyman Christopher J. Brown (R-8)
asmchristopherjbrown@njleg.org
(609) 654-1498 – Office
(609) 654-4518 – Fax

Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-26)
asmwebber@njleg.org
(973) 265-0057 – Office
(973) 884-6190 – Fax