ASSEMBLY, No. 3896

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED MAY 7, 2018

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  JOANN DOWNEY

District 11 (Monmouth)

Assemblyman  ERIC HOUGHTALING

District 11 (Monmouth)

Assemblyman  GARY S. SCHAER

District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Requires AG and Commissioner of Health to establish suicide prevention training course and informational materials for firearm retail dealers.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  

An Act concerning firearms and suicide prevention 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 Attorney General, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, shall establish a suicide prevention course curriculum and suicide prevention informational materials for firearm retail dealers who sell firearms or operate a firing range in this State.

     b.    The Attorney General shall notify firearm retail dealers of the course curriculum established pursuant to subsection a. of this section and encourage their participation in a training course. The training course shall be made available by the Department of Law and Public Safety in a classroom setting or on an Internet website. The training course shall include:

     (1) methods to recognize signs of suicidal tendencies or characteristics in firearm purchasers or renters;

     (2) suicide intervention strategies to reduce the incidence of attempted and completed suicides among persons purchasing or renting a firearm; and

     (3) information regarding available community services and counseling programs developed to prevent suicide.  

     c.     The Attorney General shall distribute the suicide prevention informational materials established pursuant to subsection a. of this section to each firearm retail dealer who sells firearms or operates a firing range in this State.  The informational materials shall advise customers on methods to prevent firearms from being accessible to a friend or family member in crisis.  A firearm retail dealer who sells firearms or operates a firing range shall make available the informational materials at each retail purchase counter. 

 

     2.    This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following enactment, except the Attorney General and Commissioner of Health may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill requires the Attorney General, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, to establish a suicide prevention course curriculum and suicide prevention informational materials for firearm retail dealers who sell firearms or operate a firing range in this State.  Under the bill, the Attorney General is required to notify firearm retail dealers of the course curriculum and encourage their participation in a training course.  The training course would be made available by the Department of Law and Public Safety in a classroom setting or on an Internet website.  The course would include information on methods to recognize signs of suicidal tendencies or characteristics in firearm purchasers or renters, suicide intervention strategies to reduce the incidence of attempted and completed suicides among customers, and information regarding available community services and counseling programs developed to prevent suicide.

     In addition, the bill requires the Attorney General to distribute the suicide prevention materials to each firearm retail dealer who sells firearms or operates a firing range.  The informational materials would advise customers on methods to prevent firearms from being accessible to a friend or family member in crisis.  A firearm retail dealer who sells firearms or operates a firing range would be required to make the informational materials available at each retail purchase counter.