Opinion by Scott Bach
Motion Filed Today to Stop the Shutdown. ANJRPC Prepared to Go to U.S. Supreme Court. Murphy Admits 2A Shutdown is not about Coronavirus!
New Jersey – -(AmmoLand.com)- March 26, 2020. Yesterday, ANJRPC filed a federal lawsuit to end NJ Governor Phil Murphy’s unilateral shutdown of the Second Amendment by executive order, supposedly because of the Coronavirus. Today, ANJRPC filed a motion in that lawsuit asking a U.S. District Court Judge to block enforcement of Murphy’s order.
Click here for copy of ANJRPC’s complaint in the case. Click here for a copy of ANJRPC’s motion to block enforcement of Murphy’s executive order.
These actions were made necessary by Gov. Murphy’s executive order 107 on March 21, in which he unilaterally shuttered gun stores, gun ranges, and shut down NICS, effectively switching off the Second Amendment to NJ’s 9 million residents with the stroke of a pen.
ANJRPC is prepared to take this new case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. The Second Amendment was designed precisely for the kind of emergency America now faces, to insure that law-abiding citizens would have the means to provide for their own safety if necessary. The idea that a single public official can simply turn gun rights off is absurd on its face.
What’s more, Governor Murphy’s overt hatred for the Second Amendment is laid bare in his executive order, which ironically declares that non-vital retailers like liquor stores, marijuana dispensaries, and cell phone stores are “essential” and therefore can stay open, while gun stores and ranges and the NICS system are not “essential” and must close.
Governor Murphy has even admitted that his assault on the Second Amendment was motivated by his hatred of guns, not by safety concerns about Coronavirus. When asked just yesterday by a reporter why he didn’t deem gun stores to be “essential,” he stated “a safer society for my taste has fewer guns and not more guns.”
He said nothing about Coronavirus, which is apparently just a pretext for shutting down the Second Amendment.
The legal team representing ANJRPC includes longtime ANJRPC attorney Dan Schmutter, and Washington, D.C. based David Thompson. Both are extremely accomplished in their fields, and very well-respected in the courts. Gun owners are lucky to have them on this case.
Please watch for further alerts as this case unfolds. If you want to support this critical litigation, donations can be made by clicking here.
About Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs:The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, Inc. is the official NRA State Association in New Jersey. Our mission is to implement all of the programs and activities at the state level that the NRA does at the national level. This mission includes the following: To support and defend the constitutional rights of the people to keep and bear arms. To take immediate action against any legislation at the local, state and federal level that would infringe upon these rights. Visit: www.anjrpc.org