NJ gun laws: We know strict concealed carry works. This is why | Opinion
Recently, Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin discussed New Jersey’s decrease in gun violence and pointed to our state’s strict gun laws as one of the main reasons for this decline. According to Platkin, shootings dropped 25% statewide in 2022. This is a monumental accomplishment; hundreds of people across the state of New Jersey were safe from senseless gun violence last year and it is due in large part to our commonsense gun laws that have been proven to work.
Here in New Jersey, we have the fourth-strongest gun laws in the country. We also have the third-lowest rate of firearm deaths in the country and the lowest rate of firearm ownership with just 8.9% of New Jersey households reporting to own firearms. We have one of the most comprehensive concealed carry permitting systems, strict ghost guns prohibitions and we require a permit and background check for all gun purchases. We have continuously seen these laws produce positive effects and Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration wanted to take this a step further by limiting the concealed carry of handguns in New Jersey. Unfortunately, this was almost instantly challenged by gun-rights groups who claimed the law was unconstitutional because it violated the Second Amendment. To add insult to injury, the Supreme Court ruled in June that the Constitution provides a right to carry a gun outside the home, further undermining our ability to enact laws that would limit the concealed carry of weapons and effectively allowing more gun violence to wreak havoc on our state.
No matter how much gun-rights activists and people who disapprove of gun control want us to believe that more guns make us safer, that is simply not true. Study after study has proven that lax gun laws result in more gun violence, not the other way around. Several non-partisan think tanks and gun violence research centers have shown us through years of research that stricter gun laws result in less gun violence and deaths. There are 42 states with permitless carry and shall issue laws, these are often referred to as right-to-carry states. Countless studies have proven there is a link between right-to-carry and increased rates of violent crimes and gun violence. Just one study that shows this connection is research published by John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in September that showed the average rate of assaults with firearms increased an average of 9.5% relative to forecasted trends in the first 10 years after 34 states relaxed restrictions on civilians carrying concealed firearms in public.
If you need further proof that strict concealed carry laws work, just take our own state for example; we have incredibly strict gun laws and our average rate of firearm deaths sits at 475 per year, compared to our neighboring state of Pennsylvania where an average of 1,600 people die every year due to gun violence. And Pennsylvania’s requirements for owning firearms are vastly more relaxed than New Jersey’s so for the people who say easier access to guns increase safety, the numbers prove otherwise.
There is just no argument when it comes to banning the concealed carry of firearms: it works. Less guns means less violent crime and less gun injuries and deaths, it’s been proven time and time again. We need to continue pushing to ban the concealed carry of firearms fully in New Jersey because our citizens deserve to feel safe in their communities and not wonder if the person sitting next to them on the train or the person checking out next to them at Shoprite decides to use that weapon they’re carrying to harm someone. Common sense gun laws work, and it’s time we all get on the same page to put the wellbeing of our citizens first.
Louis Cappelli Jr. is Commissioner Director of Camden County.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: NJ gun laws: Strict concealed carry works
