Full Body Adopts Bill to Protect Identity and Contact Information of Legal Gun Owners
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
There’s always a silver lining, Save Jerseyans. And we need one after Thursday’s gun control bonanza in the General Assembly. Here’s one: the full Assembly unanimously approved legislation that strictly prohibits the public release of gun permit holders’ names and addresses.
Assembly GOP Conference Leader and former police officer Dave Rible (R-Monmouth) was the force behind the bill; he sees the legislation’s passage as essential to the safety of legal gun owners and law enforcement personnel:
This legislation will codify that obtaining such information is restricted to those in law enforcement or the courts. Currently, access to permit-holder information is restricted by regulation which can be changed without legislative approval. This bill is an important step in safeguarding a person’s right to privacy and protecting them from potential predators.”
The Rible-Dancer-McHose legislation (A-378) was designed to be a response to a New York newspaper‘s controversial decision to publish the addresses of registered gun owners in two Empire State guncounties. A massive public backlash ensued and similar legislation is being considered by other states. Like everything else that made it through the Assembly, however, Trenton watchers must wait on the State Senate to act. Governor Christie is expected to sign the bill if/when it gets to his desk.
