NJ CARRY-KILLER BILL AMENDED IN ANOTHER ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE

UPDATE: New Jersey

November 16, 2022

On Monday, November 14, the Assembly Judiciary Committee met yet again to make further amendments to the carry-killer bill. The amended bill was not posted to the legislature’s website until today. While the amendments do address some practical issues of concern to gun owners, the bill’s essential feature of banning carry nearly everywhere remains unchanged. The amendment also addresses issues of concern to law enforcement and creates an elite class of favored officials to whom the “sensitive places” restrictions do not apply. More details of the amendments are below.
Further committee amendments in both houses of the legislature are still possible, and the earliest a bill could reach the governor’s desk is mid-December. Expect upcoming action alerts as this legislation moves towards voting sessions in the full Senate and Assembly.
Following is verbiage taken from the official committee bill statement describing the amendments made earlier this week:
The committee substitute revised the bill to:
1) remove the prohibition on weapons in sensitive places and replace it with destructive devices;
2) establish a second-degree crime of possessing destructive devices in sensitive locations;
3) remove from current law a $20 fee imposed by the county clerk;
4) clarify that a chief police officer or the Superintendent of State Police may delegate to subordinate officers the responsibilities of approving and issuing permits to carry a handgun and FPICs and PPHs;
5) allow retired law enforcement officers to renew their permits to carry a handgun every two years;
6) allow persons exempted pursuant to N.J.S.2C:39-6 to carry a firearm within the prohibited locations;
7) require the insurance coverage to be at least in an amount or limit of $300,000 for injury or death of more than one person and damage to property, in any one incident; as introduced the bill required varying coverage amounts for injury, death, and property damage;
😎 provide that the establishment of a web portal and training requirement is to take place within six months of the bill’s enactment;
9) provide that the requirement that the chief police officer or superintendent verify the training requirement and liability insurance prior to issuing a permit to carry a handgun are to remain inoperative for six months following the bill’s enactment;
10) include among the sensitive locations places used for storing or tabulation of ballots, medical offices, and ambulatory care facilities;
11) clarify that youth sporting competitions do not include firearm shooting competitions;
12) clarify that application determinations for a permit to carry a handgun that was pending before the Superior Court and filed prior to the bill’s enactment are to be made by the court;
13) clarify that a person would be disqualified from obtaining an FPIC or a PPH if the person has a substance use disorder involving drugs, under certain circumstances. As introduced, the bill used the term “drug dependent person,” rather than the more modern statutory term “substance use disorder involving drugs”;
14) expand the list of officials who are allowed to carry a firearm at all times in this State to certain judges, prosecutors, the Attorney General, assistant attorneys general, and deputy attorneys general; and
15) make clarifying and technical changes.
Please stay tuned for upcoming action alerts