Volunteers with New Jersey Chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Join State Lawmakers to Advocate For Gun Safety Bill Package  

Package Includes a Bill to Prohibit Deadly Glock Switches Which Enable Handguns to Fire Like Machine Guns 

TRENTON, N.J. – Today, volunteers with the New Jersey chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, joined state lawmakers ahead of an Assembly Judiciary committee hearing to move impactful gun safety legislation forward. Lawmakers spoke during a press conference alongside gun safety advocates about the importance of passing these measures before volunteers gave testimony during the Committee hearing. 

“New Jersey has always led the way on common-sense gun safety legislation, and we cannot allow Washington to roll back the progress we’ve made. As firearm technology evolves and new threats emerge, we must ensure our laws keep pace,” said Assemblywoman Ellen Park, Chair of the Judiciary Committee. “Today we took action on a package of bills to close dangerous loopholes and keep deadly weapons out of our communities. With more guns in circulation and rising permit applications, we cannot afford to wait. These bills are about saving lives, and I look forward to seeing them advance through the Legislature and onto the Governor’s desk.”

“As a City Councilwoman and a survivor here in Trenton, I can certainly say that this bill package is another step forward in years of progress to address the gun violence crisis that will save lives in our community and across the state,” said Teska Frisby, a Trenton City Councilwoman and a volunteer with the New Jersey chapter of Moms Demand Action. “This package will strengthen protections for victims of domestic abuse, give us more data on shootings, and take other steps to keep communities across New Jersey safer from gun violence. I look forward to seeing these measures enacted and implemented across our state.” 

“This crisis calls concerned lawmakers to action and today demonstrates that our lawmakers are up to the challenge,” said Aryana Tasharofi, a volunteer leader with the Union County Students Demand Action Community Group. “As long as our neighbors are being affected by this long-standing problem and we are forced to go to school in fear, we’ll keep fighting alongside them to make sure our laws are as comprehensive as they are beneficial to the community.” 

Advocates for gun safety and survivors of gun violence were joined by community partners and lawmakers from across the Garden State to discuss the need for this comprehensive bill package to strengthen New Jersey’s gun violence prevention laws, including: 

• Legislation that would help prevent the spread of machine gun conversion devices such as Glock switches through illegal trafficking or 3D-printing, including:
  • A state-level prohibition on machine gun conversion devices (A4974) 
  • Training requirements for law enforcement on how to recognize these devices (A4979), and
  • A prohibition on the possession of digital instructions to illegally manufacture firearms and firearm components (A4975);
• Legislation to increase protection for victims of domestic violence by also requiring respondents to surrender their ammunition, firearm accessories, and firearm components in their possession (A1389);
• Legislation to strengthen data reporting requirements regarding shootings that do not result in bodily injury (A4978);
• Legislation to require state agencies to thoroughly vet the firearms dealers they use to procure their firearms and ammunition to ensure the state does not do business with bad actors in the industry (A5346); and 
• Legislation to require issuers of credit and debit cards to create a new merchant category code for firearms dealers, which would help banks and financial institutions identify and report suspicious gun and ammunition purchasing activity to law enforcement (A5345/S3706). 

“Glock switches” are cheap, small devices – roughly the size of a quarter – that allow pistols to fire up to 1,200 rounds per minute, a rate as fast as, or faster than, many fully automatic firearms and machine guns used by the United States military. These devices pose a threat to law enforcement officers. Federal law already largely prohibits an individual from possessing machine guns and conversion devices, yet without a corresponding state law, New Jersey often needs the help of federal authorities to crack down on this problem. Twenty-three states have already adopted policies to ban Glock switches, including the nearby states of New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maryland. 

New Jersey currently ranks sixth in the country for the strength of its gun laws, and as a result, the Garden State has the fourth-lowest rate of gun deaths in the country. In an average year, 437 people die by guns and another 1,265 people are wounded. Gun violence costs New Jersey $5.3 billion each year, of which $168.9 million is paid by taxpayers. More information about gun violence in New Jersey can be found here.