HACKENSACK – Josh Gottheimer wants congressional action on bipartisan gun bills and for that to happen, he needs Republican support.

Good luck.

Gottheimer, though, is optimistic.

He said Monday that House Republicans, whose margin is quite slim, are going to need help from Dems on various issues in the waning weeks of the current session.

And knowing that there is some bipartisan backing for basic gun laws, the congressman says there’s “no reason” for such bills not to be voted on.

We’ll see.

Like most Democrats, Gottheimer, who represents CD-5, is a proponent of “common sense” gun laws.

His comments today, however, were driven by a recent federal court decision overturning New Jersey’s ban on the AR-15 rifle, a semi-automatic weapon that critics like to call an “assault rifle.”

Gottheimer said he was appalled by the decision, which he called “just plain wrong.”

He was joined at a press conference by Bergen County law enforcement officials and a contingent of students and moms active in the gun control movement.

Mark Musella, the Bergen County Prosecutor, summed up the sentiment thusly:

“AR-15s are weapons of war,” he said.

That could be, but the recent federal court ruling was based on a famous, or infamous (depending on your view) 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

That ruling essentially said that the government can prohibit types of firearms, but that there needs to be a historical precedent to do so.

In the case at hand, Judge Peter Sheridan said that the state ban on the AR-15 was inconsistent with the court’s ruling. The ruling, however, upheld the state’s ban on other semi-automatic weapons and also the state’s restriction on large-capacity magazines, limiting them to a maximum of 10 rounds.

It was the overturning of the AR-15 ban that has drawn the most attention from advocates. There is good reason for that. The AR-15 is often used in the many mass shootings proliferating the land.

Gottheimer hopes an appeal of the recent ruling will be successful, but he is also looking at the aforementioned legislation.

He wants the House to consider three bills:

The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2023, which would ensure that background checks are conducted on nearly every gun purchase – closing loopholes that allow criminals and those with mental illnesses to illegally purchase guns.

The Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2023, which would close the “Charleston Loophole,” which allows firearms sales to proceed after three days even if a background check has not been completed.
The Assault Weapons Ban of 2023, which would ban the sale of certain semi-automatic weapons, including the AR-15 rifle, and high-capacity gun magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds of ammunition. This law would reinstate the assault weapons ban that  passed in 1994.
There is some bipartisan support for these measures, but whether Republicans will support them is the question. A key part of the GOP base doesn’t want any compromise on the Second Amendment.

Gottheimer seems undaunted. Regarding the fight for a safer society, he says:

“We can not – and will not – give up.”

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