By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
At first blush, Carol Bowne of Berlin Township (Camden County) seemingly did everything that a domestic violence victim is supposed to do. She sought and received a restraining order, installed an elaborate home security system, and according to at least one published report, “began the months-long process of obtaining a handgun.”
Those months proved fatal, Save Jerseyans. Ms. Bowne was discovered stabbed to death in her own driveway on Wednesday night.
The suspect? Her ex-boyfriend and a convicted felon who, as of this writing, also remains at-large.
Now, New Jersey’s gun laws are infamously terrible (Shaneen Allen was only the most prominent recent example). So terrible, in fact, that a rational mind is left to conclude that gun control proponents care only about more gun control, not safety. For the sake of brevity, I won’t revisit the mountain of data that backs me up; the murder of Carol Browne is proof enough, right?
Convicted New Jersey domestic violence perpetrators already can’t own guns, and just this week, New Jersey legislators moved to make it even harder-er.
Yet somehow the alleged killer found a way to do it, right? With a knife. Which brings me to the key point: contrary to what our liberal friends would have you believe, the government cannot be all things to all people. A restraining order is a helpful tool for domestic violence victims but, at the end of the day, it’s not the same thing as having the armed protection afforded many top-tier political decision-makers who, ironically, champion restrictions on their voters’ ability to defend themselves. Bad people will always find a way to act badly.
The Framers knew it. That’s part of the reason they specifically memorialized our right to defend ourselves in a written document. But I don’t expect to win a decades-old 2nd Amendment debate in one post. I’m good, but no one is that good.
So maybe we can compromise? For a change?
My idea: Let’s amend New Jersey’s gun regulations such that a domestic violence victim (defined as someone with an active Final Restraining Order on the books against a former spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend) gets fast-tracked for a firearms purchasing approval provided, of course, the victim doesn’t have a violence criminal record of his or her own.
Common sense, right? Kentucky enacted a similar measure last year.
Trenton politicians love naming bills after people/animals, and typically the purposes of those pieces of legislation are a lot less important than this one. By a mile.
Let’s introduce Carol’s Law. And then please let those politicians who make a career out of demagoguing any attempt to empower citizens in their own defense, asking us instead to turn over out weapons and trust the Daddy State to protect us, explain to New Jersey voters why Carol Browne isn’t around for her own Gabby Giffords-style gun control photo op at the State House?
I practically wrote the damn bill summary/press release for you, NJ GOP’ers. You’re welcome. Now get busy before this happens again. Because it will, rest assured, and the failure to act won’t be the police or the court’s fault; only the legislature will rightly bear the blame.
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Make it simple. Shall issue. Fast track everyone. Equal protection under the law
So who is going to step and put their name behind it?
A licensed dealer still has to do a NICS check, why make our laws more complicated. #NICSisEnough
The whole permit to purchase system should be scrapped. You get a background check at time of purchase. Additional checks add nothing to the process except delays. That would have only helped her at home, she was murdered by the felon and the Democratically controlled NJ Legislature who deny everyone the right to self-defense outside of the home.
Gun control! Because felons vote for Democrats at least twice, and so do dead victims.
Not hating on cops here, but yes, the police had a hand in this case. State law gives them 30 days to approve or deny the permit application. Carol Browne was killed more than 30 days after she applied. My own application took more than 100 days to process. Here is a video of a NJ State Police Rep referring to the 30 day law as “a bunch of crap”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=plpp&list=PLCO_5DiMi7KwK3S0OBnR5yeHtrCnNzcOQ&v=1rlqJhoOqqI&app=desktop
Wrong video, here you go
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=plpp&list=PLCO_5DiMi7KwK3S0OBnR5yeHtrCnNzcOQ&v=1rlqJhoOqqI&app=desktop
why does NJ not follow the US Constitution?
Democrats & the state of NJ are the ones waging war against women !
http://www.senatenj.com/index.php/allen/after-bowne-murder-addiego-allen-beck-announce-legislation-to-prioritize-gun-permits-for-the-most-vulnerable/22660
NO, what you are asking for is so ridiculously weak why bother? NJ’s Firearms Id Card and permit to purchase process are outmoded and redundant. They were enacted before the federal instant records check. Eliminate them. Then what we need to do for is bypass all the artificial obstacles that stand in the way of obtaining a handgun carry permit. Make that process imediate after a federal instant records check.
No. THIS would be a worthwhile “Carol’s Law”. Demand Sweeney put it before the full Assembly and Senate:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/S0500/269_I1.HTM
these liberals in this state are so corrupt they fear an armed society
we need a real CCW in New Jersey
We need real Self Defense laws also
our founding fathers got it right but these politicians can’t follow the Constitution they think the police are always going to be there to protect you
this is why NJ has such a high crime rate
&*^$#*( I will never learn. This site eats comments, particularly ones which are long and well thought out. So now I will type fast and F*CK it, I don’t even remember how it went.
How many strict constitutionalists do we actually have in this state? I don’t think many. The good people of this state are too danged afraid of freedom, and the actual rights and responsibilities it incurs. They are mostly wanting to be taken care of here. Too much freedom, and well, we might actually get some real progress moving in this state. Not the tax sucking public school failure model of ‘progress’, but one where the people directly contract with each other, and the gov’t makes sure those contracts are honored. No other interference. NAH. Insufficient opportunities for GRAFT.
http://www.constitution.org/2ll/schol/2amd_grammar.htm
ctrl A, ctrl C, ctrl V… ar….
Hey admin, if my other comment is in a filter, let it out please? thanks!