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Update on Status of Childproof Handgun Legislation
(9/99)
The League of Women Voters of New Jersey, as a member of People United
for Safer Handguns (PUSH) coalition, was supporting S.1711. This bill
provided that after enactment only handguns fitted with trigger locks
may be sold in New Jersey and three years after enactment handgun sales
are limited to those designed and manufactured so that they can only
be fired by an authorized user or users ("personalized" handgun). The
technology may involve a variety of systems such as biometric, mechanical
or electronic system that restrict the operation of the handgun through
radio frequency tagging, touch memory, fingerprint, magnet encoding
or other automatic user identification programs. Colt's Manufacturing
Company has recently released its second prototype.
During hearings in March and May the coalition agreed to the
addition of language that allowed the Attorney General to grant two
one-year extensions of the time certain date if in the opinion of the
Attorney General the technology was not available. The availability
of the technology has been raised at all hearings. PUSH knows the
technology is available and provided testimony from individuals with
the technology to sell. The strategy is that unless there is a
deadline gun manufacturers must meet in order to sell handguns in New
Jersey, the manufacturers will never place personalized technology on
the market. S.1711 was released from the Senate Law and Public Safety
Committee. Senator DiFrancesco then introduced and brought to the
floor a childproof handgun bill he had drafted (S.2045). It included
trigger locks in the interim and personalized handguns AFTER they are
deemed to be commercially available. Commercial availability is
defined as at least two manufacturers are able to market personalized
handguns in sufficient numbers to be readily available to licensed
retail firearms dealers. This removes the time certain provision of
s.1711. We believe it also assures that nothing will happen to bring
personalized handguns onto the market. The Senate passed S.2045.
Question for NJ Assembly
candidates: Would you support a handgun bill requiring
only handguns with personalized technology-not trigger locks-be
sold in New Jersey after a 3-5 year phase in period? Listen
carefully to the answer-it may include yes when they are proven,
yes when they are commercially available.
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