An Act concerning gun violence and supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.

Whereas, Every New Jersey resident deserves to live in a community that is safe, secure, and free from gun violence; and

Whereas, Gun violence takes a devastating toll on its victims, their families, and the communities in which it occurs; and

Whereas, An average of 96 people in America die from gun violence every day; and

Whereas, According to the most recent data, there were nearly 500 gun deaths in the State of New Jersey in 2016; and

Whereas, Every year, an average of over 116,000 people in the United States are victims of gun violence, with 12,000 of those being victims of homicide; and

Whereas, There have been more than 300 school shootings since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School; and

Whereas, No parent should live in fear that his or her child will be a victim of gun violence; and

Whereas, Every child should grow up without fear that they may be a victim of gun violence in their school or in their neighborhood; and

Whereas, The issue of gun violence is not a new problem, but rather one that has plagued communities throughout our State for far too long; and

Whereas, In the face of numerous tragedies, the federal government has repeatedly failed to act by not passing commonsense legislation to curb gun violence; and

Whereas, To build a stronger and fairer New Jersey, we must seek to eliminate gun violence in all our communities; and

Whereas, New Jersey has demonstrated itself to be a national leader in efforts to reduce gun violence and will continue to be at the forefront of the fight against gun violence and gun crimes; and

Whereas, Data indicates that approximately 80 percent of the guns used in crimes committed in our State are trafficked from outside the State of New Jersey; and

Whereas, Information about the guns used in crimes and the sources of those guns should be available to the residents of this State in order to increase public awareness of the impact of gun violence on their communities and the effects of firearms trafficking into New Jersey; now, therefore,

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. The Attorney General shall compile and make publicly available, a report to be issued every six months with information related to firearms used in the commission of crimes in the State. The Attorney General also shall issue a comprehensive annual summary report.

2. To the fullest extent practicable, the Attorney General shall make such information available on the Internet website of the State Police and on the Department of Law and Public Safety Internet website.

3. Each department, office, division, and agency of this State is hereby required, to the extent not inconsistent with law, to cooperate fully with the Attorney General and furnish the relevant information and assistance on a timely basis as is necessary to accomplish the purposes of this act.

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would codify Governor Murphy's Executive Order issued on April 6, 2018 and would direct the Attorney General to compile and make publicly available a report issued every six months with information related to firearms used in the commission of crimes in the State and a comprehensive annual summary report.

Under the bill, the Attorney General would make this information available on the Internet website of the State Police and on the Department of Law and Public Safety Internet website. In addition, each department, office, division, and agency of this State would be required to cooperate fully with the Attorney General and to furnish the relevant information and assistance on a timely basis as is necessary to accomplish the purposes of this bill.