Weinberg Faces Gun Rights Advocates at Teaneck Forum

Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg spoke in Teaneck Sunday to detail her support for a host of proposed gun regulations and faced opposition from gun rights advocates.

The Assembly advanced the 22 new gun control measures in February after the . The state Senate is set to take up the matter in late April.

Banning .50 caliber weapons, limiting the ammunition capacity of magazines to 10 bullets from 15, mandatory safety training, and requiring background checks for private gun sales are some of the proposed measures. The package would also prohibit people on federal terror watch lists from buying weapons. 

Weinberg described the legislation as common sense regulations that would not infringe on the rights of private citizens to purchase firearms.

“There is not too much on this list of proposed legislation that requires much more than training, than licensing, and the idea that if in fact you decide under your Second Amendment right to buy and to keep a gun that you will do it safely and carefully,” she said.

Weinberg said that one of the thorniest issues is navigating privacy laws to define the scope of proposed psychological requirements for gun ownership.

“It’s a very difficult area because of the combination of privacy issues and of who judges who is actually a threat,” Weinberg said. “So we’re kind of weaving our way through that to get the best possible legislation.”

Proposed regulations would allow the seizure of weapons from owners if a mental health professional has deemed them a public safety threat.

Defenders of gun rights also turned out at the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County's forum. Several gun control opponents argued in the questions they posed to Weinberg that the proposed legislation would only impact law-abiding gun owners, while failing to prevent the use of illegal guns in violent crimes. Others stressed that legally purchased firearms are not only constitutionally protected, but necessary for self-defense against criminals.

Others also questioned if the proposed mental health background checks for gun ownership would discourage people from seeking psychological care.

In some instances, Weinberg had to defend not only the specifics of proposed legislation, but the power of the state government to enact measures regulating firearms.

“In fact right now in this country it is a fundamental right under the constitution,” Weinberg said amidst interruptions from the audience. “It is also a fundamental right of the government to regulate the sale and possession of firearms. That’s also been established in this country.”

She indicated that the process in the senate may move more slowly, to allow more extensive hearings from both sides of the issue.

“All 22 bills were put up on the same day,” Weinberg said of the marathon legislative session in which the measures were passes. “And it made people feel—and I can understand why—that they were kind of short changed in being able to give their input."

It is unclear if Governor Christie would sign off on the new measures, and Weinberg could not comment on the prospects of the legislation if it reaches his desk.

“Whether the governor will choose to sign some, one, all, or none of these remains to be seen,” she said.

Weinberg indicated that the offices of her colleagues had heard more from constituents opposing new restrictions.

“The passion on the ‘let’s not do anything’ side was certainly much more in evidence,” she said, referring to opponents of the proposed gun regulations.

But, she maintained, the outpouring of opposition has not necessarily been representative of New Jersey residents’ broader position on the issue, and said she hoped her stop in Teaneck to add supportive voices to the dialogue in Trenton.

“I believe if we keep the enthusiasm, and we keep the interest of grassroots people, we have the wind at our backs with most of this legislation,” she said. “And we have, I think, a dedicated majority who are going to put it together.”

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