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Member
Copyright 2002 U.S. Newswire, Inc.
U.S. Newswire
December 30, 2002 Monday
SECTION: State Desk
LENGTH: 441 words
HEADLINE: Citizen's Group Blasts New Jersey Legislation For Endangering Civilians While Exempting Police
DATELINE: NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ, Dec. 30
BODY:
The following is a statement from the New Jersey Coalition for Self Defense concerning Governor McGreevy's signature on the "Smart Gun" legislation:
Governor James McGreevy signed into law legislation that will make New Jersey citizens guinea pigs for unproven technology. This action will cost more New Jersey citizen's lives than it will ever save.
The so called "Smart Gun" legislation will eventually restrict New Jersey citizen's choice of firearms to only those unproven "smart guns", while at the same time exempting the police. We can only wonder why the New Jersey Legislature has forced the civilian population to be the beta testers for equipment that our lives may someday depend upon. A principle of engineering states that a simpler mechanism is always more reliable than a more complex one. Therefore, we are extremely skeptical that adding more complexity into firearm design will ever make them safer or more reliable.
In light of this, we can predict that it will be only a matter of time till you see headlines similar to "Mother dies defending her children during home invasion due to dead battery", or the failure of any other of a number of parts related to the personalization technology.
We would like to remind New Jersey readers and legislators that law abiding Americans use their firearms more than two million times a year to stop serious criminal attacks, and that according to the New Jersey Department of Health, there were zero children killed in firearms accidents in NJ during 1998 and 1999, the only years for which these statistics are available.
This strongly suggests that the new bill is less about gun safety, and is more about promoting "feel good" legislation that ultimately does not hold water when the consequences are examined. It is yet another example of the misguided belief that adding layers of unnecessary technology or legislation into citizen's lives somehow solves something.
On behalf of the responsible, law abiding citizens of New Jersey, we are offended by the dual standard and the implication that somehow our lives are less precious than those of our fine law enforcement officers, who have been granted exemption from this legislation due to reliability concerns. When this technology is good enough for the police, then and only then will we consider it worthy for our use as well.
The New Jersey Coalition for Self Defense is a volunteer citizen's non-profit organization, whose purpose is to provide public policy leadership and public service education concerning issues related to a person's fundamental Human Right of self-defense.
http://www.usnewswire.com
CONTACT: New Jersey Coalition for Self Defense, 732-247-2282
U.S. Newswire
December 30, 2002 Monday
SECTION: State Desk
LENGTH: 441 words
HEADLINE: Citizen's Group Blasts New Jersey Legislation For Endangering Civilians While Exempting Police
DATELINE: NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ, Dec. 30
BODY:
The following is a statement from the New Jersey Coalition for Self Defense concerning Governor McGreevy's signature on the "Smart Gun" legislation:
Governor James McGreevy signed into law legislation that will make New Jersey citizens guinea pigs for unproven technology. This action will cost more New Jersey citizen's lives than it will ever save.
The so called "Smart Gun" legislation will eventually restrict New Jersey citizen's choice of firearms to only those unproven "smart guns", while at the same time exempting the police. We can only wonder why the New Jersey Legislature has forced the civilian population to be the beta testers for equipment that our lives may someday depend upon. A principle of engineering states that a simpler mechanism is always more reliable than a more complex one. Therefore, we are extremely skeptical that adding more complexity into firearm design will ever make them safer or more reliable.
In light of this, we can predict that it will be only a matter of time till you see headlines similar to "Mother dies defending her children during home invasion due to dead battery", or the failure of any other of a number of parts related to the personalization technology.
We would like to remind New Jersey readers and legislators that law abiding Americans use their firearms more than two million times a year to stop serious criminal attacks, and that according to the New Jersey Department of Health, there were zero children killed in firearms accidents in NJ during 1998 and 1999, the only years for which these statistics are available.
This strongly suggests that the new bill is less about gun safety, and is more about promoting "feel good" legislation that ultimately does not hold water when the consequences are examined. It is yet another example of the misguided belief that adding layers of unnecessary technology or legislation into citizen's lives somehow solves something.
On behalf of the responsible, law abiding citizens of New Jersey, we are offended by the dual standard and the implication that somehow our lives are less precious than those of our fine law enforcement officers, who have been granted exemption from this legislation due to reliability concerns. When this technology is good enough for the police, then and only then will we consider it worthy for our use as well.
The New Jersey Coalition for Self Defense is a volunteer citizen's non-profit organization, whose purpose is to provide public policy leadership and public service education concerning issues related to a person's fundamental Human Right of self-defense.
http://www.usnewswire.com
CONTACT: New Jersey Coalition for Self Defense, 732-247-2282
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