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

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

1. a. The Superintendent of State Police, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall establish and implement a five-year pilot program to provide training required pursuant to N.J.S.2C:58-3 and N.J.S.2C:58-4 at no cost to certain persons seeking a firearms purchaser identification card, a permit to purchase a handgun, or a permit to carry a handgun.

Applications for participation in the pilot program shall be in a form prescribed by the superintendent and shall be submitted by the applicant at the same time that the applicant submits an application for a permit to purchase a handgun, firearms purchaser identification card, or permit to carry a handgun, as the case may be.

A person earning less than $75,000 per year in income, for a single person, or less than $150,000 per year in income, for a married couple filing a joint tax return, and who is determined to be otherwise qualified under subsection c. of N.J.S.2C:58-3 or N.J.S.2C:58-4, shall be approved to participate in the pilot program. Upon successful completion of an approved training course, the applicant shall be issued the identification card or permit.

The superintendent shall offer training courses in one northern, one central, and one southern county in this State which an applicant may attend in order to satisfy the training requirement set forth in N.J.S.2C:58-3 and N.J.S.2C:58-4. Training courses shall be offered two times per year in each of the three counties. In the alternative, the superintendent may provide a voucher to an applicant which may be used to pay for any private training course approved by the superintendent.

b. The superintendent shall submit a report evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program to the Governor and, pursuant to the provisions of section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the Legislature within 90 days of termination of the program. The report shall evaluate the pilot program and recommend whether the pilot program should be continued, expanded, or made permanent.

2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon the filing of the report required pursuant to subsection b. of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Superintendent of State Police, in consultation with the Attorney General, to establish and implement a five-year pilot program to provide to certain persons at no cost the training required to obtain a firearms purchaser identification card, permit to purchase a handgun, or permit to carry a handgun, as the case may be.

A person earning less than $75,000 per year in income or less than $150,000 per year in income, for a married couple filing a joint tax return, and who is otherwise qualified to obtain the identification card or permit, is to be approved to participate in the pilot program.

The superintendent is to offer training courses in one northern, one central, and one southern county in this State two times per year. In the alternative the superintendent may provide a voucher to an applicant which the applicant may use to pay for any private training course approved by the superintendent.

Upon completion of the training course, an applicant shall be issued the identification card or permit.

Finally, the bill requires the superintendent to submit a report evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot program to the Governor and the Legislature within 90 days of the program's termination. The report is to evaluate the pilot program and recommend whether the pilot program should be continued, expanded, or made permanent.

The sponsor notes that the cost of taking the required training course may hinder a person who earns a low income from lawfully obtaining a firearm. Individuals who cannot afford to complete a training course are likely those who are most in need of obtaining a firearm for the purpose of self-defense. A person's income level often dictates whether that person can afford to move out of a high crime area. Those who cannot afford to move from a high crime area are at increased risk of being the victim of a crime. The sponsor intends for this legislation to increase access to firearms for those individuals who are most in need of exercising their constitutional right to keep and bear arms for purposes of self-defense.