New Jeresy –-(Ammoland.com)- New Jersey citizens are told to trust the police to keep them safe, but what if the state itself doesn’t even trust them enough to carry more than ten rounds in their magazines?
This paradox is the question that the people of the Garden State have been asking themselves for the past week.
Last Monday a ban went into effect making it illegal to own any magazines that hold more than ten rounds making millions of residents guilty of a class-four felony. Anyone caught with one of the now banned magazines in their possession faces up to 18 months in prison and up to $10,000 in fines or both for each magazine found.
Gov. Murphy wants citizens to trust in the police to protect them, but the law does not exempt off-duty officers from carrying more than 10 rounds in their magazines. Depending on the department police in the State carry between 15 to 17 rounds in their duty weapon magazines.
It doesn’t make sense why an off-duty officer is limited to 10 rounds when they carry much more while on duty. This artificial limitation severely hampers their ability to respond to a threat when off duty.
When Ian David Long walked into a crowded bar in Thousand Oaks California and opened fire with his .45 caliber Glock 21, the 28-year old killed 12 people. In that bar were six unarmed cops that were disarmed by their department policies. If even one of those officers were armed, then lives could have been saved.
A similar situation could play out in New Jersey due to the new magazine size restrictions placed on all citizens including off-duty police. Police respond to crimes after they happen. These off-duty officers are out blended into the public. The chances are strong that these officers have a better chance of stopping a crime progress then the uniformed officers on duty.
Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo sent out a memo to his officers clarifying that the law does apply to them when they are off duty even when they are in an on-call status. The memo was leaked on Twitter by Former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik, the Tweet reads:
“NJ Governor @GovMurphy is endangering the life of every off duty NJ cop! Gang bangers, drug thugs and really bad guys don’t give a damn about magazine capacity… So he takes the good guy’s ammunition, and the bad guys are loaded for bear! @FoxNews @CNN @newsmax @DLoesch @ABC”
On FoxNews Kerik went even farther by calling the law ‘insane’ and by saying that the law is ‘just crazy’ for taking away round that police might need in a gun battle. He pointed out that criminals do not follow the law and the Governor is giving the criminals the upper hand.
Kerik is not alone in is condemnation for the law. Willes Lee, President of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) and NRA board member was also shocked by the law.
“New Jersey liberal politicians don’t trust citizens. Now, they again demonstrate that Democrats hate law enforcement,” Lee told AmmoLand. “New Jersey police unions still support Democrats? Law enforcement and first responders lives are in danger when liberal politicians ban their ability to defend themselves. New Jersey just got more dangerous, even to their own law enforcement officers.”
Legislation has been introduced to amend the law to exempt cops from the magazine ban, but with the left-leaning legislature, there is no guarantee that the bill will pass. Democrats are known for being anti-gun and anti-police.
These anti-police moves are not the first time New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has been at odds with the cops. Earlier this month the former Bergen County Prosecutor told nj.com that police use of force cases should ‘be analyzed in hundreds of ways’ to make sure there was not abuse. He also has instructed departments to implement early warning systems to identify cops that might go rogue by analyzing their behaviors akin to the ‘Pre-Crime’ system used in the “Minority Report” movie.
It remains uncertain if legislation exempting cops from the law will pass the New Jersey legislature for Gov. Murphy to sign, but as of now, New Jersey is less safe than ever because of Gov. Murphy’s anti-gun law.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.
Amend NJ law to require the governor’s body guards and guards for politicians to be restricted to ten rounds or less per magazine. Maybe even eliminate guns for the governor’s body guards. Lead by example. Want to buy a bridge? Because there are more cops than criminals, don’t the criminals deserve a leg up when committing a crime? Thank you socialist governor.
As a LEO I’m saying there shouldn’t be a difference in what’s carried under 2A rights.
Makes me glad I’m in free(er) America where we fight for ourselves and our rights and don’t bow to the whims of liberalism.
This dilemma is interesting. A police officer in New Jersey, as a result of this law, cannot even pick up his 15 round magazine firearm until he is on duty. That means that their first duty, once the clock strikes their starting time, would be to obtain their firearm, safety check it and load it before going out on the street to work. The reverse would be required when they get off duty. This would mean substantial overtime or loss of police coverage during shift changes. Any other options make the officers felons. As a retired LEO, I have a… Read more »
Hmmm…so the police need in excess of 10 rounds to protect you, but citizens don’t need them to protect themselves while waiting for the police to arrive? Do the police turn into criminals when they clock out? Are untrained citizens better shots than the police? This underscores the reality that this ban, while being unconstitutional, has nothing to do with public safety as the courts have ruled.
NJ bans cops carrying standard capacity magazines? Rightfully so. If they weren’t so dangerous the law would not have been passed. And as to overturning federal law at the state level? Kudos to NJ! The streets will be so much safer without all those rouge retiree cops running around packing heat.
Do I have to turn the sarcasm off now………
The magazine ban is just as UnConstitutional for John Q. Cop as it is for John Q. Citizen,all citizens rights are in need of restoration.