Analysis: U.S. gun-control bill could weaken N.J.’s restrictions
Friday April 12, 2013, 12:11 AM
By HERB JACKSON
“NJ/DC” COLUMNIST
With a procedural vote out of the way, the U.S. Senate is getting ready for its first debate on significant gun-control legislation in decades, and a bipartisan plan requiring background checks at gun shows is first on the agenda.
National groups seeking stronger gun-control laws praised the compromise developed by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., both gun owners who previously had gotten top ratings from the National Rifle Association.
But in New Jersey, which has some of the country’s toughest gun laws already, gun-control advocates are nervous. In particular, they worry that a provision Manchin and Toomey included to allow interstate handgun sales could open a loophole in the Garden State’s strict background check process.
