NJ Governor’s Executive Orders Will Hinder Public Safety

By Tom Knighton

Governor Phil Murphy’s recent executive orders were likely designed with the idea that they could increase public safety, not just in New Jersey but throughout the country. The effort seeks to require anyone making a bid on state firearm contracts meet certain criteria.

In particular:

Under the order, a division of the state treasury will request the vendors and retailers selling guns and ammunition to the state to adhere to public safety principles. Those include preventing, detecting and screening for the transfer of firearms to straw purchasers and firearm traffickers.

Prospective bids for guns and ammo under the order are to require that each vendor adhere to those principles in order to win the bid.

Bill Castner, the Murphy administration’s special adviser for firearms, said Tuesday recent state purchasing of firearms, ammo and other accessories is $70 million.

Here’s the problem with this plan.

First, gun manufacturers don’t really sell to individuals. They sell primarily to distributors who then sell to gun stores. It’s the stores that sell to individuals. Even if someone buys directly from a company’s website, though, it still has to go through someone with a federal firearms license. In other words, manufacturers could develop all the …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms