ASSEMBLY LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 1236

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: DECEMBER 11, 1997

      The Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 1236.

      Senate Bill No. 1236 amends N.J.S.2C:39-5 and supplements chapter 58 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes to permit the temporary transfer of a firearm to a person enrolled in an approved training course for the use, handling and maintenance of firearms.

      Under the provisions of the bill, a firearms instructor certified by the Police Training Commission, the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife and the State Park Service in the Department of Environmental Protection, the Director of Civilian Marksmanship of the United States Department of the Army, or a recognized rifle or pistol association that certifies instructors would be permitted to transfer temporarily a firearm to a person enrolled in an approved training course in the use, handling and maintenance of firearms. The firearm may be transferred by the instructor to the person only during the training sessions and only for the purposes of the course. Those transfers authorized under the bill may take place only upon a firing range or, if the firearm is unloaded, in an area designated and appropriate for training. Further, the bill specifies that the transferred firearm may be used only in the actual presence and under the direct supervision of the instructor. Finally, it stipulates that the firearm may not be transferred for more than eight consecutive hours in any 24-hour period.

      The temporary transfers authorized under this bill would permit persons who do not possess a firearms purchaser identification card, a handgun purchase permit, or a firearms license to temporarily possess a firearm for training purposes. The bill specifies, however, that an instructor is prohibited from transferring a firearm to any person who he knows does not meet the qualifications set forth in N.J.S.2C:58-3 for obtaining or holding a firearms purchaser identification card or a handgun purchase permit.

      To ensure there is no criminal misuse of the temporary transfer authority legalized under the bill, there is a provision which specifically prohibits any transfer for an illegal activity (Section 1 of P.L.1983, c.229; C.2C:39-14).

      This bill is designed to complement and supplement the provisions of P.L.1992, c.74 (C.2C:58-3.1) which permit the temporary transfer of firearms for target practice, trap or skeet shooting, and firearms competition or hunting, under certain circumstances.