To the Editor:
In response to Harvey Roach, of Cape May, writing about the concealed carry permits being a problem, it would help if he would look at the facts.
After the U.S. Supreme Court rules you have a right to carry a concealed firearm outside your home, New Jersey was required to come up with a plan to allow this.
They were asleep at the wheel and were not ready for this, which is why I immediately started the process to get the carry permit before Phil Murphy and the rabid anti-gunners in Trenton could figure out a way to circumvent the Supreme Court.
Perhaps Mr. Roach is not aware of what it takes to get a carry permit.
You have to have a NJ Firearms card, have another background check, supply three personal references that are called, pay a fee for the permit, pay a fee for fingerprints, travel 30 miles away to get the fingerprints done, take a course proving you can use the gun you will carry, have four photos taken of you (why do they need four?), and have a mental health background check.
After all this, none of which is in the Second Amendment and is onerous, you have to wait for a judge to approve the permit.
Because so many people started the process, Phil Murphy passed a ridiculous bill that made 90% of New Jersey a so-called “sensitive place.” It also required the gun you are allowed to carry to be locked in the trunk away from you in a car. How is this a carry permit if the law is the same and even worse than before the permit process?
The bill also required carry permit holders to have $300,000 worth of liability insurance, which is not even for sale in New Jersey. I know because I called every insurance company doing business in New Jersey.
Concealed carry permit holders are the most law-abiding gun owners there are. More police officers are arrested nationwide than legal firearm permit holders.
The myth that the guy next to you in the bar will shoot you at any time is intellectually dishonest. The majority of the states have carry permits issued and there are no Wild West shootouts in the streets. There has been a permit process in New Jersey for a year now and no one with one has suddenly decided to shoot up the streets.
People who go through the process to carry legally are not the issue; it is mental health being ignored and illegal guns.
The old canard that New Jersey is “the most densely populated state,” therefore no one should have a gun is insanity. We don’t give up our rights in the Constitution because of the amount of people living here.
The states with the most carry permits are the safest. In fact, three New England blue states – Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine – that allow you to carry without a permit have the least amount of gun crime. The surrounding blue states – New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts – with the strictest gun control laws have some of the highest gun crime numbers.
Funny how that works. Criminals know the odds of someone having a gun to protect themselves are low in these states, so crime runs rampant.
If you don’t want to carry a gun, so be it, but please do not attempt to stop law-abiding carry permit holders from being able to defend themselves.
The Bill of Rights says I can do so. I don’t need Phil Murphy’s or the state Legislature’s permission to protect my family.
