Changes to state gun laws by the Christie administration are being met with stiff opposition from Democrats.
TRENTON -- Top Democratic leaders in the state Legislature said Monday they are acting to block Gov. Chris Christie's effort to issue gun permits to anyone in New Jersey who can prove a "serious threat" against their life, saying the move oversteps state gun control laws.
Speaking at the Statehouse, state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) assailed the newly relaxed regulations as expanding "the scope of the right-to-carry well beyond what is authorized under current law."
"To put it simply, if these regulations were adopted, it would allow every cab driver, pizza delivery driver, Uber driver and anyone else living or working in a high-crime neighborhood to qualify for a firearm permit," Weinberg said.
For decades, state residents have been required detail a "justifiable need" to local police to be approved to carry a firearm. However, after a Berlin Township woman, Carol Bowne, was murdered while awaiting approval of her permit to own a gun last summer, the governor made expanding access to firearms for New Jerseyans a priority.
Earlier this month, the governor's newly appointed acting attorney general, Robert Lougy, changed the regulations by adding "serious threats" to the circumstances that could demonstrate a special danger to the applicant's life, including those that "are not directed specifically at an individual but which establish more than mere generalized fears or concerns."
The rules were also loosened on when a permit to carry a handgun could be approved.
Democrats on Monday said they will seek to introduce a concurrent resolution to block the new regulations from taking effect.
"A mass arming of our society is not the right way to fix this problem," said Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Camden).
Christie's A.G. loosens N.J. gun permit laws
When the rules were announced, Christie cited the case of Bowne, who was stabbed to death in her driveway by an ex-boyfriend while she awaited approval of her state firearm purchaser's card by local police, who'd exceeded the 30-day deadline for processing.
Weinberg accused the governor of exploiting Bowne's death to weaken the state's gun laws, which are among the toughest in the nation.
"From what i know about current regulations, (Bowne) would have qualified for a right-to-carry permit," Weinberg said. "What happened in this case is not an excuse for expanding regulations."
One of the few areas where Democrats and Republicans agree is that it takes far too long for local law enforcement to render decisions on permits.
On Monday, Weinberg said that Democrats will be working on a second bill "to clarify the time limits and eliminate any confusion" about the deadline for approving or denying a gun permit application."
When asked about the fact that gun permit application decisions regularly exceeded a full year in some towns, Weinberg acknowledged the delays, but said they were "not according to the law, and shouldn't be allow to happen."
Neither Weinberg nor Greenwald had spoken with Bowne's family before introducing the legislation, but her brother Mark Bowne told NJ Advance Media on Monday he believed the Berlin Township police simply did not want his sister to have a firearm.
"They kept on giving her the runaround," Bowne said. "She went there every other day, asking, 'Why am I not getting my gun?' They always said, 'We're waiting on fingerprints.' I just don't think they wanted her to have a gun."
Weinberg added she would like to eventually address a longstanding, unintended side-effect of New Jersey's gun transport laws. Gun owners who are legally allowed to carry a gun in their home state often find themselves unwittingly running afoul of state law when passing through New Jersey.
But while she said she hoped to give state judges greater leeway in considering how to sentence such unwitting, otherwise non-criminal offenders, such changes would not be included in the new legislation.
Alexander Roubian, president of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society, reacted to the move by chastising Democrats who "waste time passing legislation that would block regulatory changes the governor passed" while simultaneously "expecting the governor to sign" their legislation addressing the same issue.
Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.