Can The 2A Sanctuary Movement Grow In The Garden State?

New Jersey may not be the first place you think of when you hear “Second Amendment Sanctuary”, but the state does now have at least one community that’s adopted a resolution in support of the right to keep and bear arms. West Milford is in the northwest part of the state, not far from where Scott Bach, the executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, is from, and he joins me on today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co. to talk about West Milford’s vote, as well as the push to declare a couple of counties in the state Second Amendment sanctuaries as well.

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As the New Jersey Herald reports, state Assemblyman Parker Space has asked freeholders (known as county supervisors or commissioners in most states)  in Sussex and Warren counties to show their support for the Second Amendment by passing resolutions of their own.

Space’s Assembly district includes all of Sussex County and the northern portion of Warren County as well as Mount Olive township in Morris County.

He said the idea of the resolution came while he was in Florida recently where he has property in Valusia County. Adjacent Lake County has passed a resolution declaring itself a Second Amendment Sanctuary, he said, and he has learned that a few counties in Virginia had also taken action.

“When I got back, I found out West Milford has done the same thing,” he said Friday. The action taken by the township, which is in Passaic County but is adjacent to Sussex County came at a meeting of the township council on Dec. 4.

It’s more than a few counties in Virginia. Right now we have at least 76 counties that have passed resolutions, with more expected to approve the measures this week. It would be huge for any county in New Jersey to declare their intent to preserve the Second Amendment within their borders, even if the measure is largely symbolic. Right now it looks like there’s at least some interest on the part of officials in Sussex County.

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Joshua Hertzberg, a Sussex County freeholder, said he has not had a chance to read through the resolution.

In an e-mailed statement he wrote: “As someone who fully supports and defends the Second Amendment to our Constitution, I of course, support the concept of protecting our Sussex County residents’ constitutional rights. As a board, we haven’t had time to review or discuss any type of action, but look forward to those discussions soon.”

Freeholder Director Herb Yardley responded in an e-mail: “As Freeholder Director I have not had a chance to review this since I just received it today. I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and the constitutional rights of the citizens of Sussex County. I look forward to discussing this at one of our future meetings for public discussion.”

Freeholder Deputy Director Sylvia Petillo did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Make sure you check out the entire interview with Scott Bach above, which also features a little bit about Governor Phil Murphy’s attempt to blame the attack in New Jersey on a lack of federal gun laws, and Scott’s thoughts on what the Supreme Court might be up to with the New York City gun case it’s currently considering.

Also on today’s show we have an awful story out of Philadelphia involving a convicted felon who gave his illegally-possessed handgun to his teen sons with tragic results, an alleged domestic abuser who was shot as he tried to break into a South Carolina home, and an Alabama sheriff’s deputy who saved Christmas for a single mom and her kids.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to the show at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Townhall.com’s podcast page. On tomorrow’s program, Nikki Goeser will join me to talk about the re-release of her book “Stalked and Defenseless: How Gun Control Helped My Stalker Murder My Husband in Front of Me”, how her husband’s killer has continued to stalk and harrass her from behind bars, and why she’s so passionate about women being able to protect themselves from their abusers.

 

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