This is the second part of a blog about Phil Murphy. I do hope by talking about the candidates for Governor of New Jersey, that you the reader get a better idea about what they are all about.

Now I will talk about the issue of Gun Control and what Mr. Murphy wants to do. Per his website, “The gun violence epidemic continues to plague our state and our nation. Tragically, guns remain a leading cause of death in our country:

• More than 33,000 people died in gun-related deaths in 2014 alone.
• In 2015, New Jersey saw a 4 percent increase in homicides. The vast majority of these violent crimes involve a firearm — over 70 percent from 2012 to 2014, the last three years for which we have data.
• Most tragically, dozens of people were killed last year in accidental gun deaths in which the shooter was five years old or younger — deaths that personalized, smart gun technology would prevent.”

There is more but I think you are getting the gist of what Mr. Murphy thinks about gun control. His solution is to “Sign commonsense legislation that Christie vetoed: Phil Murphy would start by signing every piece of gun violence prevention legislation that Governor Christie has vetoed. These bills would have enacted bipartisan and sensible solutions, such as keeping guns out of the hands of gang members and domestic abusers.

• Mandate gun safety training: No one should be able to purchase a firearm without first attending a gun safety training course.
• Promote smart gun technology: We must regain our position as a leader in the smart gun movement by requiring all gun retailers to carry at least one smart gun once they are commercially available.
• Keep guns out of the hands of those suffering with mental illness: New Jersey already requires background checks, but it should follow the lead of nearly half the states in the U.S. and require timely reporting of mental illness episodes to the national background check database.
• Tax gun sales to prevent violence: All gun sales should be subject to a tax that will fund law enforcement, drug treatment centers, and mental health services.
• Strengthen regulations on gun transfers: Phil Murphy would make it a crime to sell guns without conducting a mandatory background check, and would require individuals to register their firearms kept in the state.
• Work with neighboring states to promote gun violence prevention: An estimated 80 percent of guns involved in crimes in New Jersey come from out of state. As governor, Phil Murphy will engage partners in neighboring states to find common ground on gun violence prevention efforts.
• Direct the Attorney General to vigorously defend our gun laws: Governor Christie has allowed the Attorney General’s office to relax enforcement of our gun safety laws, including laws that prohibit illegally transporting guns into New Jersey from out of state. As governor, Phil Murphy would direct the Attorney General to vigorously defend and enforce our gun laws, rather than to act as an agent of the NRA.”

I will now go point by point on the above. Mandatory gun training is a good idea and I doubt that the National Rifle Association (NRA) would object to that as they do offer and encourage doing this. As for smart guns, well it has been tried to enable legislation to do just that and vetoed by Christie; for now it is not very practical idea, as it is not very reliable and too new a technology to be practical to enact legislation as of today.

Keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, well who could be at odds with do that? The problem is that is it is very hard to do with all the privacy laws and there is no national database at this time, which I do not see President Trump and the Republicans allowing.

Taxing gun sales to pay to fund other services is just a pipe dream by Mr. Murphy as there is no way to have a dedicated fund, plus I know by experience that any monies collected would be used to fund pet legislative projects. So this is just another dumb idea.

Working with neighboring state to stop gun violence is just… well wishful thinking. Maybe New York might cooperate, but I cannot see this working at all.

Our Attorney General does what he can and what Murphy is saying is just pure dribble. Don’t forget the mother from Pennsylvania and the man who was traveling through/within our state, both were convicted under our onerous anti-gun laws and both were pardoned by Governor Christie because our gun laws are not very well thought out. Plus they can be a unreasonable burden on legitimate licensed gun owners and do next to nothing to those who ignore these laws because they are criminals already who do not care about what the law says.

More on Phil Murphy next week as this blog is running long again.

That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike