Gun Safety Advocacy
In 2022, our country had 647 mass shootings, and over 44,000 gun deaths, according to Gun Violence Archive. With each new incident, it becomes harder and harder to fathom the national legislative apathy — or downright hostility — towards solving our epidemic of gun violence.
And yet, the people of New Jersey and the members of BlueWaveNJ are anything but apathetic. In March, we joined the nationwide effort in supporting the March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C. We also raised our voices on a state level, as proud sponsors (along with NJEA and AFT-NJ) of the June 11 March for Our Lives event in Military Park, Newark. This march was part of a national program, with over 450 gatherings scheduled for that day in cities across the country.
The march featured a powerful roster of speakers.
BlueWaveNJ’s sustained, vocal push for state-level legislation to address gun violence had tremendous results: in July, Governor Phil Murphy signed seven major new gun safety regulations:
- Effectively banning .50 caliber weapons
- Requiring identification for gun owners moving into New Jersey
- Upgrading “ghost gun” manufacturing crimes from third degree to second degree
- Creating an electronic tracking system for ammunition sales
- Requiring training for gun owners
- Requiring firearms to be trackable through a microstamp
- Empowering the state attorney general to file civil actions against gun manufacturers
Until there are uniform federal gun safety regulations that protect all Americans, we will continue to fight to make New Jersey as safe as possible.