New Jersey Governor Signs Massive Legislation to Restrict Carry Rights

In June I vowed to take action after the Supreme Court eliminated commonsense restrictions on who can carry guns in public.

Today, I signed a law to protect the welfare of all who proudly call our state home by keeping guns out of places where they simply don’t belong. pic.twitter.com/xSlXBKLTfd

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 22, 2022

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a massive bill last week that will restrict one’s right to bear arms outside the home and add more red tape to the concealed carry application process.

“Today’s bill signing is the culmination of months of negotiations between this Administration and our partners in the Legislature, delivering on the promise I made this summer to keep New Jersey safe in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s awful decision,” said Governor Murphy in a press release obtained by GunsAmerica.

Murphy is referencing the high court’s landmark Bruen decision that invalidated “may-issue” concealed carry standards around the country.

Prior to the ruling, New Jersey citizens would only be issued a carry permit if they could demonstrate a “justifiable need” to the government.

SEE ALSO: WATCH: Naked New Jersey Businessman Chases Car Thieves with AR-15, Police Take His Guns

“While I strongly disagree with that decision, we must abide by it, and today’s law fully respects the Second Amendment while keeping guns out of the wrong hands and preventing them from proliferating in our communities,” continued Murphy. “I am proud to sign this commonsense legislation which prohibits carrying guns in sensitive places, including our daycares, hospitals, libraries, and stadiums.”

Sensitive places, aka gun-free zones, are defined per the bill by these three categories:

High-density locations

• Entertainment venues, including stadiums, arenas, amusement parks, casinos, racetracks, and publicly owned libraries and museum
• Youth sporting events and other recreational facilities, such as public parks, beaches, and playground
• Bars, restaurants where alcohol is served, and any other locations that serve alcohol for on-premises consumption
• Airports and public transportation hubs

Locations with vulnerable populations

• Schools, colleges, and universities
• Daycare and child-care facilities
• Hospitals and health care facilities
• Long-term care facilities and nursing homes
• Correctional facilities, juvenile justice facilities, and halfway houses
• Homeless shelters

Locations with governmental and First Amendment activity

• Polling places
• Courthouses
• Law enforcement stations and offices
• Government buildings and locations with government meetings
• Demonstrations, protests, and licensed public gatherings

The legislation also sets a default standard that unless a homeowner, business owner, or property owner says otherwise via express consent or signage, their home, business, and land are gun-free zones as well.

Along with expanding the list of gun-free zones, the process to obtain a permit is more expensive and involved thanks to the passage of the new bill.

The cost for a permit is now $25, up from $2, and applicants must purchase gun owner liability insurance with coverage of at least $300,000 for injury, death, or damage to property as a result of exercising 2A rights.

Additionally, applicants must provide four character references that are “non-related persons.” The applicant and their references must also be willing to submit to interviews with law enforcement to determine whether the prospective concealed carrier could be a threat to themselves or others.

“New Jersey continues to lead the nation in combatting gun violence and demonstrating how commonsense gun laws help keep residents and law enforcement safe,” said Attorney General Platkin.

“The legislation signed into law today, strengthens our efforts to keep communities safe by keeping firearms out of the wrong hands and away from sensitive locations, such as where children learn and play,” Platkin added.

SEE ALSO: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Signs 7 New Bills Tightening Gun Laws

GunsAmerica reached out to Mark Oliva, the managing director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association, to get perspective on the measure.

Oliva did not mince words.

“This is a direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen decision. Previous to Heller, courts used a ‘balancing interest’ test. That was the legal theory of a state’s need to provide for common safety versus the individual right to keep and bear arms. In that test, the government always won,” explained Oliva.

“Heller said that the Second Amendment is the test. Courts ignored it. The majority in Bruen couldn’t have made it clearer. The test is the Second Amendment. Full stop,” he continued.

“New Jersey is drawing a very wide circle on sensitive places where individuals have the expectation to exercise their rights, especially the right to keep and bear arms and self-defense. It’s no different than New York saying Times Square is a sensitive place. There’s still a lot of crime and innocent people left defenseless against criminals that don’t care and get released immediately after arrest,” Oliva concluded.

As with New York’s concealed carry law post-Bruen, what NY state leaders called the “Concealed Carry Improvement Act, it looks like we can expect to see some challenges to New Jersey’s in the coming weeks.

Gun-rights groups are not going to let this abuse of power go unchecked.

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