Ammo Control Had Failed New Jersey, So Of Course They Want More Of It

New Jersey Democrats have always made my head hurt.

They think you’re too incompetent to pump your own gas. They want to mandate that all gun buys have smart guns… though they don’t exist in any viable form. They demand that you use FMJ or round nose lead bullets for self-defense, because they’re not bright enough to understand that jacketed hollowpoint bullets are the worldwide standard because they’re both more effective in stopping bad guys and reducing over-penetration risks to those downrange.

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Now they’re compounding their ammo foolishness (again) by noting that the previous ammo law didn’t stop bad guys from shooting one another and law-abiding citizens, so they need to make the law even more restrictive for people who aren’t the problem.

Following up on a report it made 10 years ago, the State Commission of Investigation says the state’s laws still don’t go far enough to keep gun ammunition out of the wrong hands.
gun with bullets

Since the Commission’s 2007 report, “Armed and Dangerous: Guns, Gangs and Easy Access to Firearms Ammunition,” legislation has been enacted in order to make it more difficult for non-gun owners to legally purchase bullets in New Jersey.

However, the process is still open to abuse and manipulation, the follow-up report finds.
The law, signed by Gov. Jon Corzine in 2008, required that only those with state-issued firearms credentials could purchase ammunition. Before the law, sellers only needed to ask for proof of age.

The law, though, did not take into account the Commission’s recommendation that photo identification be incorporated into firearms purchaser credentials.

In recent “undercover test buys” from the Commission, investigators successfully purchased ammo by using another individual’s credentials. Sellers do not have to request photo ID.

According to Scott L. Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, the Commission’s photo ID recommendation “is a solution in search of a problem.”
“The recommendations are based on the false and naive premise that criminals use ID cards to purchase ammunition in the first place,” Bach said.

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Criminals get their ammo the same ways they get their guns:

  • theft
  • smuggling/black market
  • straw-purchases from “clean” family or friends.

Just as NCIS background checks and so-called “universal” checks have done nothing to stop the ability of criminals to acquire firearms, the State Commission of Investigation’s recommendation to push for photo ID of ammunition purchasers isn’t going to stop a single crime, or save a single life.

It’s just the latest attempt to make owning an using a firearm difficult in an oppressive state that has long hated liberty.

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