[Fear Mongering in N.J. 2A]

19 minutes ago, Tunaman said:

Calling out other 2A activists and lawyers does nothing to add to your credibility in my eyes.  We are supposed to be a united group.

Except that he didn't actually "call out" anyone in his blog post. We can agree to disagree though.  

[Fear Mongering in N.J. 2A]

9 minutes ago, Underdog said:

Interesting point.  

And the same applies to a person who others fear may self-harm. Great, you took guns away from a suicidal person… but now what? You send them home to a house full of: rope? knives? poison? pills? a car (carbon monoxide)? Sadly, people kill themselves using all types of tools. The focus needs to get off of the one particular tool... and on to whatever mental health crisis is purportedly taking place. But, that would suddenly bring up the ugly truth... that we as a country absolutely suck at dealing with mental illness. Well-intentioned, robust patient privacy laws sometimes prevent loving families from even knowing what's happening... and in those cases where they DO suspect trouble, there are unbelievable hurdles to getting someone admitted even for short-term hospital stays (because we have fewer psychiatric beds available today than in the 1950's). And THAT whole mental health quagmire is big... and messy... and expensive... and NO ONE wants to tackle it. It's so much easier to just grab a few guns... and strip a few people of their Constitutional rights, isn't it? 

[Fear Mongering in N.J. 2A]

3 hours ago, Underdog said:

What the Fudd!  Are gun owners acting illogically with their fears?

I want to revisit.  I was hoping that others would comment about it and ponder what its purpose was, and in particular because others have agreed with it in followup comments. 

I (perhaps others?) interpreted Jason's post more narrowly than you did. I felt he was referring quite specifically to some of the muckraking articles implying there could be broad "door-to-door searches" for >10 round magazines taking place.  I thought that was the primary point of his post (I'm sure he'll weigh in himself to clarify that).

You OTOH are giving a more sweeping appraisal of what's happening in this state - and in the country - and I do agree the encroachment on individual rights is alarming.

Of everything, I am personally MOST concerned about these pernicious "red flag" laws. As you point out, the big problem is human nature: the ill-intentioned neighbor looking to make trouble... the angry spouse seeking to gain leverage for divorce/child custody hearings, etc. From what I've seen, the vast majority of these laws (including the NJ one) have NO built-in penalty for false accusation, and all the cost for fighting an unfounded accusation is borne by the accused. It's encouraging bad actors as far as I'm concerned. 

These red flag laws are not only worrisome for how they run afoul of multiple Constitutional rights (in my admittedly non-lawyer opinion), but I think they have another purpose that's even more nefarious: to drive gun ownership underground, and to "demonize" it. And what's most ridiculous of all... the laws may well have even uglier unintended consequences. Let's take that statistically rare case where a legal gun owner actually IS a threat... the police swoop in and take his guns away under a red flag law, sooo... now what? He can buy them illegally... make one.... buy a machete... rent a big, bone-crushing box truck... rig up some pipe bombs, etc. The gun was never the threat, but if the person was... well, now you've taken his property, humiliated him, saddled him with debt, and set him back out on the street...and now he's actually got a damned good reason to be angry and vengeful! How does this make any sense? I think these red flag laws are disastrous.

So, yes, I don't disagree with you, @Underdog, that there is a  steady and increasing encroachment of individual rights taking place, and not just against the 2A, but other rights as well. 

[Time to wrap this up.....]

Gorgeous! I love the smoky color. There's just something appealing about cars from that particular era. My brother had a Challenger - also that same feel. Both considered "muscle cars" I guess? Was never sure what that term meant exactly - but it always made me think of Challengers, Chargers, GTOs, Mustangs, etc.

Anyway, good luck with it!

[Are NJ Gun Owners Rats On A Sinking Ship?]

I work from home, so if I didn't have an elderly parent in NJ, I'd be gone already - even if it was just to hop over the border into friendlier, less expensive Pennsylvania.

The gun issue, though certainly important, is merely one tiny slice of everything that's wrong with the state - a trend toward increasing gov't control and decreasing individual freedom cuts across MANY issues. The cost, bureaucracy and aggravation that results from that trend is just not worth the "benefits" of living here.