One Gun Per Month

by: Juan Melli

Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 11:30:52 PM EST

If you buy a hand gun in New Jersey, there's no need to register it. You can also buy as many as you want each month. For now, anyway:

New Jersey could become the nation's fifth state and the first in seven years to make it illegal for people to buy more than one handgun per month.

Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, a sponsor of the legislation, represents Jersey City, which like other New Jersey cities has struggled against street gangs and gun violence.

"I personally can see no reason why anyone would want to go out and buy guns in multiples," she said. [...]

The proposal comes with New Jersey increasingly concerned about gun crimes, particularly from street gangs. Last year, authorities in Newark, Irvington and Camden seized 114 firearms, up from 86 in 2005. Meanwhile, homicides in Newark have jumped from 65 in 2002 to 113 last year, with nonfatal shootings also on the rise.

One-gun-per-month laws have been supported by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which contends they've cut gun trafficking in Virginia and handgun sales in Maryland. New Jersey Assemblyman Peter Barnes, another bill sponsor, said that's key because guns are now the weapon of choice for young people.