It does not seem reasonable to me that we believe that it is our right to know everything and any thing about our neighbors.

I do not believe that the Township actually issues the permits so much as they process the permits, which in my understanding are State wide firearms permits. You apply through the town, but the permit is actually from the State of NJ. The online form can be found under the form of a Firearms Purchase Permit. Given the attack on constitutional rights many people are filing for them now.

You can call Jimmy-O-Keefe, ( he's the guy that exposed the fraud going on at Acorn ). Anyway, he'll gladly send you a sign to put in your front yard that says:
THIS HOME IS UNARMED. Records indicate about 35,000 NJ residents have applied for firearm permits since the devastating incident in Newtown Conn. Last year 85,000 applied. Nationally, 8.8 million residents appied in 2012.
Keep in mind that not all of the requests that were approved actually purchased a firearm.
Also keep in mind that more U.S. in uniform committed suicide with their own weapon, than were killed in combat in Afganastan last year. Does this mean our soldiers shouldn't have access to weapons either ?
It's obvious you never applied for a firearms I.D. card, if you did, you would have experienced the application process, met with your local police department, and would feel safer already, with or without ever purchasing an actual firearm.

Have you ever gone through the process of getting a gun permit?
Do you know what is requested on the forms?
Just curious as it seems by your letter you have not, at least not in NJ.

I couldn't agree more Mr. Resmer. The fact that my neighbor needs my permission to construct a retaining wall (for example) that may somehow impact my property, but I don't have the right to research public records to confirm whether or not they keep firearms seems ridiculous. As a mother, I was always concerned when my son spent time at another child's home because I had no idea if there were guns in the house. It is one of the more commons ways a child is injured or killed in this country. I think this is just another illustration of how powerful the NRA lobby is in this country. We get to know if a pedophile lives in our midst, but we can't check whether or not our neighbor is armed to the teeth. Just another reason to contact my legislators while this issue is being addressed on Capitol Hill.

Recreational assault weapons fire riddles Ohio home, narrowly misses officer

ory.com/rs/2013/01/17/recreational-assault-weapons-fire-riddles-ohio-home-narrowly-misses-officer/

Mr. Resmer, Question please: Are legal gun owners criminals in your opinion?

Recreational assault weapons fire riddles Ohio home, narrowly misses officer
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/17/recreational-assault-weapons-fire-riddles-ohio-home-narrowly-misses-officer/

As a licensed gun owner in Wayne, I have no problem with the request. I take exception however, to your example of the dangers posed by ownership. Wayne has a no discharge ordinance that prohibits use of firearms within the boundaries of the township. That would make your example pure hysteria as a basis for your request. Compare apples to apples, and make a more coherent argument to limit the folly of your arguement. The ownership of a firearm in Wayne is legal once the proper permits are obtained. Use of a loaded firearm is not.

I agree 100% with Mr. Resmer. I have 2 small children. The idea of them getting shot while at the home of a friend with parents who owns guns haunts me. I have the right to know. Mr. Resmer, your editorials are always a moderate voice of reason. Excellent work sir. Please keep up the good work.

The law abiding gun owners of any town both directly and in directly protect the neighbors that are around them. Making it harder for legally obtained guns. Is not going to solve any problems. What this state and country need is people control. Any law abiding gun owner would not fire their weapon in any direction which would potentially hurt a bystander or innocent person. To be quite honest if faced with a life or death decision given the circumstance you just provided I would feel thatthe use of a gun against an intruder would be warranted and safe. If you think about it that round would have to travel through4 walls in Wayne before it hit someone s neighbor standing in their kitchen. Further more if you did some research you would know their are multiple" home protection rounds that prevent over penetration. And as far as asking for adresses of gun permit holders that puts everyone at risk. The beauty of that law is so the bad guys do not know who has the legally owned guns. It is one of the few gun laws that make sense

As a parent, when my child visits another home, I find out what may or may not exist as a danger. I certainly don't ask the govenment or Stewart Resmer to do that work for me.

Do Neighborhoods' Firearms Permits Lower Property Values?
'I'd Think Twice About Living There'
A controversial recent report raised concerns about these residences -- and some realtors say it could drive down the value of the homes.

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/01/16/gun-permits-home-values/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl18%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D258292

Stewart,
You have no need, legal right, nor justification for having those police records. Your hysteria over gun ownership is absurd. All you need to concern yourself with is being a good parent, knowing where you children are located, what they are doing, and with whom they are doing it.

Check out the peer reviewed authoritative economic literature by Professor John Lott related to owning and carrying a weapon to learn how crime rates decline in states with reasonable gun ownership and carry legislation. Stop using isolated examples and then generalizing from that isolated example. There are exponentially more "kids" killed each month by underage drunk drivers than by legally owned guns in a year.

Mr Resmer,

The NJ Legislature disagrees with you, the identity of gun owners can not be " outed" as they were in 2 counties in NY. FYI... there have now been 2 break ins at homes on that list, the thieves went right for the safes.

Your supposed right to know does not trump my right to privacy. It is not public knowledge how much I earn per year, whether I own jewelry, nor own a firearm. Sorry.

sk I beleive the law is unconstitutional in its present form, it is a de facto concealed weapons permit that deprives me of my 1st amendment right to life liberty and pursuit of happiness, further it abridges the freedom of the press, and nowhere in the constitution will you find the words 'right to privacy' you will find in the subordinate 2nd amendment the phrase 'well regulated'.
What you earn is between you and tax man, please dont attempt to confuse the issues here?
In the example of the burglaries you refernece can you demonstrate where some one was arrested, charged, and found gulity or confessed to targeting a particular home for a firearm theft? If not then your assertion is highly speculative and in a court of law it would be termed as lacking foundation. You cant make a statement like that with out supporting proof, it is conjecture on your part and nothing more.

jq yes hundreds of yards, the formula that I would use would be determined by the firearm , while a 22 derringer may have a effective range fo 25 yards, a 223 AR-15 on the other hand may be 500, if it were a desert eagle many hundreds of yards, or a 50 cal rifle? a mile.
Right now, the unsuspecting citizens have no idea what weapons are about, or how many of them there might be, and we have no way to determine what peril we may or may not be on, yet we know that the neighbor wants to add a room or a swimming pool that needs a security fence but not a lethal firearm across the way down the road?

So if I am understanding Stewart correctly, he is proposing to mark the locations of certain people that he believes to be inherently dangerous, even though they do not have any criminal or violent background.

Then, by marking these houses everyone in the community will feel safer because they know the type of person that lives there. The community can then act accordingly in the way that 'those' people are treated and perceived. How do you propose to mark these "danger zones"? Perhaps with a gold star?

Essentially, this is a form of registration. After registration, comes confiscation. Then the will of the armed is put upon those without arms. History has shown this to be the natural chain of events, numerous times, which has led to the slaughter of millions in the 20th century alone.

Our founding fathers knew this and that is why they wrote the constitution. They were extremely intelligent and wise and they chose their words very carefully. Credit must be given to their well thought out and deliberate choice of words, which ensured that the U.S. would forever remain a nation of free people. Some may argue that the 2nd amendment has no bearing today and that times were different then. Back then, everyone (military and citizens) owned the most current and technologically advanced firearms of their day. Today we have the internet, something the founding fathers could probably never dream up, and yet it has been ruled that the 1st amendment applies to it…

(continued)
They could not predict the kinds of advancements in technology, but they made sure that future generations would exist as free men and women.

Stewart, you and your gun owning neighbors are on the same side and want the same things, which is to live freely, fully, and peacefully. If anything, your gun owning neighbor is more than likely a good man or woman because they voluntarily agreed to a full background check and passed. You expressed concern about your house being hit by stray bullets and linked a news article. That article is about two drug using idiots who were doing something they should not have been doing and will never legally own a firearm again, and rightfully so. In NJ at least, as far as I know, legal use of firearms are only permitted at a sanctioned shooting range, on farms, and in defense of human life. Personally, I am more afraid of being hit by a car (whether the driver is drunk or not) than I am of being shot.

You also argued that a firearm permit is the same as a building permit. Owning a pool and owning a firearm are two drastically different subject matters and I hope that everyone recognizes that. Also, the permit process in NJ has long been seen as an infringement of our 2nd amendment rights (and by ‘our rights’, I am referring to you, me, and everyone else). NJ is one of the few states where a “permit” must be applied for in order to purchase a firearm. …

(continued)
Firearm ownership is at an all time high in this country, and yet violent crime over the past 20 years has declined. The FBI’s UCR is available for anyone to view and I invite everyone to take a look. You can also look at other countries that have banned firearms, and their violent crime rate is much higher than ours. Every mass shooting that has occurred had two things in common. First, every one of them had mental issues, and in most, if not all cases, other people knew about it and did nothing or very little to prevent them from acting out. Second, the targeted areas were “gun free” zones. Now people want to ban so called “assault weapons”? The main rifles in question have existed since the 40’s and 50’s and now they suddenly pose an immediate threat? Do they even know what a real “assault rifle” actually is? Should the people who know nothing about firearms and real world shootings be making the rules regarding this issue? Just because I used to watch “House” and “ER” does not mean I really know anything about the medical field, medications, prescription drugs, surgery, etc. ...

Before going on a witch hunt for the “dangerous law abiding citizens of our town and nation” and condemning them, might I suggest another route? Get to know your neighbors. Introduce yourself, shake their hand, talk with them, and then realize that they are not your enemy, but you are in fact one in the same. You want your kids to be safe when they go to a friend’s house? Teach them to be responsible for themselves, get to know the parents, politely ask questions (will they be supervised?), and if there is a problem or issue, do not allow your child to go to those places.

You want to know where the legal gun owners live? Are you willing to put a sign on your house that reads, “This home is gun free”? I want everyone to be safe and do not wish for anyone to be violated, targeted, harassed, and/or segregated for ANY reason.

Sincerely,
Your neighbor

*Also, firearms bought over the internet MUST be shipped to an FFL (gun store) in the state in which you reside. The store then conducts a background check and transfers the firearm to the buyer.

Hello again Stewart,

You are concerned about being within the firing range of a gun. After a quick search, Wayne is approx. 25 square miles in size with approx. 19,000 homes, over 50,000 people total, of which approx. 42,000 are over 18 years of age (taken from waynetownship.com/demographics)
A bullet can travel at least 1 mile, and yes even a .22.
So theoretically, if there is one gun owner per 2 square miles, then all of Wayne township is “in range”. According to the Wayne Township website they have 119 sworn police personnel, and I am sure they all have guns and probably live in town.

As I recall, the number of homes in America that reported having a gun in their home is somewhere around 40% (key word, “reported”, and I am sure the actual number is much higher). If we take that percentage and apply it to the 19,000 homes in Wayne, we get 7,600 homes. So, on average, there may be ~300 homes with a firearm per one square mile in Wayne. I have not read of any person or home being hit by unintended gunfire nor of anyone illegally discharging a firearm in Wayne. ...

(continued)
As for registered firearms in NJ, registration of long guns (rifles, shotguns, etc.) is voluntary. For handguns, a permit must be obtained from the police for every handgun obtained. I believe that no state requires registration of long guns. Only states with active “assault weapon bans” in place require you to register those particular “assault weapons”. And that refers to the real “assault weapons”, not the ones currently being debated about in politics. NJ, CA, NY, and maybe 1 or 2 others have these laws and bans in place.

As far as I am aware, there is no shooting range within the town that is open to the public. The shots you are hearing are probably from a police shooting range. Any issue you have with noise or ricochets you will have to take up with them. Who knows, maybe if you ask they will give you a tour and show what safety measures they have taken. I know of one range in Barbour Pond that is literally right next to a playground. I haven’t heard of any injuries or other problems coming from that, and I have been there while the range was in use. ...

(continued)
There are far greater issues and problems that we should be focusing on in our nation, state, and on a personal level. I still maintain that being hit by unintended gunfire is highly unlikely and that the law abiding citizens of this town are not the problem. If this were Newark, then yes, your concerns may be warranted. But even then, it is not the law abiding citizens in Newark doing the shooting.

Have a good day and enjoy the football games

I note that you fail to metion the responses to your misrepresentations of the OPRA I filed?
Its not a Police range its a live fire range that conducts operations before 10 am on the Sabath in a state that still has blue laws, but of course this is about the right to blast off guns right?
I also note that in the past you have made an issue about my posting on the Patch network as not being a resident of where you live but yet here you are?

In the end, you are not much more than a electronic anon key stroke, until such time as you can find it within you to come out from behind your wizard of oz curtain with your true and correct real name.

Your request to the town was denied, and rightly so. FID cards and handgun permits are not issued by the town. The police are the ones who investigate and then issue the permit. As they are police investigations, they are not public record.

If there is a shooting range open to citizens within the town or within audible range of Wayne, it’s news to me. I can almost guarantee that whatever gun shots you are hearing are coming from a law enforcement officer at a LE only range.

You may have me confused with someone else. This is the first time I have ever posted here and I do live in Wayne.

yes I did confuse you with another, you guys are so alike its hard to tell you apart! lol
well we will just have to wait and see how the OPRA shakes out in the long run wont we? Why who knows maybe even the governor might be rethinking whats going on, even though he just kicked the can down the road for 2 months right?
you're not my neighbor, my neighbors engage me in thoughtful dialogue and exchange of views to my face, yer an anon poster who hides behind a nome de plume with out the strength of your convictions for not using your true and correct real name, what are you so afraid of?

woopsie it was you after all that said that wasnt it?
Your Neighbor
5:08 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The title of the article suggests that this was written by a resident of Bridgewater, but it was not. The letter specifically mentions Bridgewater, yet the author of this letter seems to be, judging by his signature a resident of Wayne.

I would like to know why a resident of Wayne is interested in finding out who owns guns in Bridgewater!

Detective accidentally shoots self in leg at Gloucester County Justice Complex

N.J. Assembly panel OKs gun control measures as crowd packs hearing
It also passed legislation to exempt firearms records from the state’s open public records law. Assembly committee considered 24 gun control bills today.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/state/NJ_lawmakers_consider_25_bills_reforming_gun_laws.html?page=all

'The number of permit seekers has skyrocketed and in Wayne authorities are seeing more than double their usual amount, Reardon says.' WayneToday.com

And as they do We The People are forbiden to know how many and what sort of weapons are about.
Unequal protection under the law for the rest of us?

Governor Christie


A-3788, is an example of runaway government that promulgates unequal protection under the law.

Allow me to explain?

Due to the peculiar nature of the instrument, a firearm, a projectile is fired under extreme pressure with the capabilities to travel many Hundreds of feet per second, over a distance of multiples of hundreds of yards with great force upon impact.

Yet under this proposed bill, I am deprived the right to know who has what weapons within proximity of my person thus potentially depriving me of life from being unable to assess the threat and danger of such instrument fired by will or accident and take precaution to protect myself in either case while the bill supercedes and subordinates my right to life but rather preserves and protects privacy of holders of permits and weapons.

Further under common law as referenced under the Statement, this bill seeks to strip me of my common law access to that information.

In 2 instances the Townships of Bridgewater (OPRA 12-681) and Wayne (OPRA 12-698) have already denied me the right to aforesaid information citing Regulation and not law.

Strike down this bill.

Sound like Stewart wants to know which of his neighbors he should avoid p***ing off!