Even had bathroom gun
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Jersey City officials yesterday displayed 28 deadly and illegal firearms seized at a city man's home last week - and used the bust to underscore Mayor Jerramiah Healy's push for laws to stem the tide of illegal guns coming into the city.
"This rifle is designed to do nothing other than to hunt man," said Police Chief Tom Comey as he picked up an assault rifle from a table covered with the seized firearms.
On Friday, police arrested former Jersey City Auxiliary Police Officer Edwin D. Wise, 55, of Dwight Street, at his home and charged him with aggravated assault and scores of weapons offenses, officials said. Police found at least one gun in every room of his home, including a pistol in the bathroom medicine cabinet, said Sgt. Anthony Musante.
In all, police found 20 handguns, two assault rifles, three shotguns and three rifles, including a handgun that fires rifle rounds capable of penetrating body armor used by police, Comey said.
Every gun was purchased illegally in North Carolina or South Carolina by Wise using fake names and phony Social Security numbers. As many as 10,000 rounds of ammunition were found.
Healy said New Jersey and New York have tough gun laws, but relaxed laws in some Southern states provide a source of illegal guns that find their way to Jersey City streets.
"This is why we have created legislation on the local level to prevent straw purchasers from distributing caches of handguns bought out of state on the streets of Jersey City," Healy said.
Comey said so far this year 348 illegal guns have been seized in Jersey City, a 29 percent increase over the same period last year. The chief said he wanted to make it clear that he and the mayor are not anti-gun, but are against irresponsible gun owners and dealers.
In 2006, Healy proposed and the City Council passed a "one-handgun-a-month" ordinance that would restrict individuals from buying more than 12 handguns a year. The ordinance was overturned by a judge and is currently on appeal. State legislators are poised to adopt a law based on the ordinance, officials said.
The City Council also passed an ordinance that requires gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm within 48 hours. The state recently passed the same law, and tightened the reporting requirement to 36 hours.
