While most people were focused on the holidays—traveling, shopping, and spending time with family—New Jersey lawmakers were busy doing something else entirely. In a quiet lame-duck session, they pushed through a new package of gun control laws that didn’t get much public attention. That sneaky silence wasn’t an accident.
In a recent breakdown from Martell Training Group, retired New Jersey State Trooper and instructor Steve Mazagatti explains why these laws matter far beyond the Garden State. The short version: New Jersey is being used as a testing ground. What survives here is likely to show up in other states next.
This Isn’t About Bans Anymore — It’s About Strategy
After the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, states hostile to the Second Amendment can’t just ban firearms outright. So the strategy changed.
Instead of bans, lawmakers now regulate:
- Behavior
- Information
- Data
- Time and delay
The goal isn’t public safety. It’s exhaustion. Make gun ownership harder, riskier, slower, and more confusing—especially for people who follow the law.
Four Bills, One Direction
During the holiday lull, four major gun-related bills were passed by Democrats and sent to outgoing Governor Phil Murphy (D). Each one chips away at lawful gun ownership in a different way.
Shifting Liability Onto Gun Dealers
One bill claims to target gun trafficking, but its real impact falls on lawful firearms dealers. Under this law, a dealer can be punished if they “reasonably should know” a buyer is prohibited—even when that buyer has already passed both state and federal background checks.
Think about that for a second.
The government approves the transfer. But if the government later changes its mind, the dealer gets blamed!?
This matters nationally because it discourages lawful commerce through fear. If dealers face unlimited legal risk, they close up shop. Access disappears without a single ban ever being written.
Criminalizing Possession of Information
Another bill makes it a crime to possess digital instructions related to, in NJ’s words, “illegal” firearm manufacturing. Not distributing them. Not using them. Just possessing them.
That could mean:
- An old file on a forgotten hard drive
- An email attachment from years ago
- Something you didn’t even know you still had
There’s no intent requirement. This isn’t about building a gun. It’s about owning information. That raises serious First Amendment concerns—and other states are watching closely to see if NJ can get away with it.
Data Collection That Builds a Narrative
A third bill requires the Attorney General to collect data on shootings that didn’t result in bodily injury. On the surface, that sounds harmless.
But data collection is never neutral. How data is gathered and framed determines how future laws are justified. This bill doesn’t stop crime—it creates a statistical foundation that can later be used to argue for more restrictions.
We’ve seen this playbook before.
Delaying Due Process
The final bill grants courts additional time to decide on pre-trial detention when a firearm offense is involved. After objections, lawmakers limited the delay to seven days—but the principle remains.
When firearm charges are treated differently from other offenses, punishment begins before conviction. Due process isn’t denied outright. It’s delayed. And delays matter.
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“This Is Just New Jersey” Is the Wrong Take
If you don’t live in New Jersey, it’s easy to shrug this off. That’s a mistake.
New Jersey doesn’t pass laws hoping they only work here. It passes laws hoping they survive long enough to be cited elsewhere. Other states copy:
- The legal language
- The regulatory structure
- The data justifications
That’s exactly what happened after Bruen. New York passed sweeping carry restrictions despite clear warnings from the Court. New Jersey followed. Now this new playbook is being refined again.
Compliance by Attrition
None of these laws stops criminals. Instead, they pile on:
- More rules
- More liability
- More ambiguity
- More cost
The aim is to wear down lawful gun owners and dealers until exercising a constitutional right feels too risky or complicated to bother with.
That isn’t safety. That’s compliance by attrition.
What Gun Owners Should Take Away
- New Jersey residents: Document everything. Be mindful of digital files. Understand how firearm-related charges affect pre-trial rights.
- Dealers: A background check approval no longer ends your legal risk.
- Everyone else: Watch your state legislature closely. If a law survives in New Jersey, it’s likely coming to you.
As the video makes clear, what happened in New Jersey wasn’t loud or dramatic—but it wasn’t accidental either. Staying informed isn’t optional anymore.
Because what happens in New Jersey never stays in New Jersey.
New Jersey Politicians Enact Largest Gun Ban in U.S. History
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