N.J.'s Strict Gun-Control Laws May Soon Be Lifted By The Federal Government

WASHINGTON, DC — New Jersey's strict local gun-control laws could soon be lifted by the federal government. That is, if one gun-loving Republican congressman from upstate New York has his way.

U.S. Rep. Chris Collins (pictured above) unveiled new federal legislation Monday called the "Second Amendment Guarantee Act," or H.R. 3576. If passed into law, the new bill would prevent all state, county and city governments from enforcing local rifle and shotgun laws stricter than those at the federal level.

"This is one of the more dramatic and extreme bills out there," Lindsay Nichols, federal policy director for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a phone interview Monday.

"It would really impact almost every state in the nation," she said.

In New Jersey in particular, Collins' bill would lift the state ban on many types of assault weapons and large-capacity gun magazines. It would also relax the state's strict licensing requirements for buyers and sellers of rifles and shotguns. (The bill would not, however, overturn any local rules on handguns.)

According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, New Jersey "has some of the strongest gun laws in the nation, and... one of the lowest gun death rates. The state requires the licensing of all firearms dealers and their employees and requires a permit to purchase any handgun."

In a biting response to the new bill, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York — another state famous for strict gun control — warned Monday that it would put "millions of people at profound risk."

Cuomo added: "We understand that Washington is in turmoil right now — we just ask that they don't do anything to set back the progress we've been able to make despite them." He accused Rep. Collins of being "beholden to no one but the gun lobby and entrenched special interests," and called his new legislation "a blatant political ploy."

Here's the full text of Collins' bill. It reads, in part:

"A State or a political subdivision of a State may not impose any regulation, prohibition, or registration or licensing requirement with respect to the design, manufacture, importation, sale, transfer, possession, or marking of a rifle or shotgun that has moved in, or any such conduct that affects, interstate or foreign commerce, that is more restrictive, or impose any penalty, tax, fee, or charge with respect to such a rifle or shotgun or such conduct, in an amount greater, than is provided under Federal law."

Very few changes have been made to federal gun law in recent years, explained Nichols from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Instead, she said, it's become "an area that’s traditionally within the state authority."

Nichols said more than 200 new laws have been enacted at the state level "to cover a range of loopholes in federal law" — efforts which would be "significantly undermined" by the new Republican legislation.

Photo courtesy of Rep. Collins