Activists who oppose a bill that would allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines are planning a rally in Morristown on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, to press Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) to vote no on the proposal.
The New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence plans to present speakers including Mayor Tim Dougherty at town hall at 12:30 pm.
Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona Congresswoman who survived a shooting in 2011, has been running TV and digital ads in Frelinghuysen’s district linking the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act to the gun lobby.
A priority of the National Rifle Association, the bill has been attached to a bipartisan measure to tighten federal background checks in the wake of last month’s massacre of 25 Texas churchgoers. A House vote could come this week.
Following the Las Vegas shooting that left 58 dead and 546 wounded in October, the NRA endorsed the concealed carry law:
“In an increasingly dangerous world, the NRA remains focused on our mission: strengthening Americans’ Second Amendment freedom to defend themselves, their families and their communities.
“To that end, on behalf of our five million members across the country, we urge Congress to pass National Right-to-Carry reciprocity, which will allow law-abiding Americans to defend themselves and their families from acts of violence,” the NRA said in a statement.
According to rally organizers, the reciprocity bill “forces states with strong gun laws, like New Jersey, to comply with weak laws from other states, endangering public safety, and making it significantly more difficult for police to enforce gun laws that are proven to save lives.”
Such reciprocity “will be especially dangerous for victims of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking by enabling domestic violence offenders to follow their victims across state lines with loaded, concealed firearms,” the New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence said in a statement.
The coalition cited preliminary data from the National Domestic Violence Hotline indicating that 23 percent of victims surveyed reported their abuser crossed state lines with a gun in an attempt to assault them.
“If this bill passes, New Jersey will be forced to allow unlicensed, unvetted people, as young as 18-years-old, from out of state to carry guns in public places, including in bars and restaurants,” the coalition said.
Morristown Green has reached out to Frelinghuysen’s office asking his position on HR-38. We will update this story with the Congressman’s response.
The Harding Republican, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, was not listed as a co-sponsor earlier this year. The NRA gave Frelinghuysen a 64 percent favorable rating in 2016.
