I don’t think it has been easy to get a carry permit in NJ for a long time. You can get the handgun permit, but can’t carry it around...
Even with those restrictions, these stories rarely come out of NJ because we have de facto segregation here; victims would see the perps coming a mile away. Many people from NJ are liberal, but that ends with race; no liberals here on that issue. A dozen years or so ago, our governor was criticized for posing with a black perp being frisked against a police car.
Thanks to God I live in Texas. Our new Governor will soon sign a bill allowing me to open carry, since I have a permit to conceal. Although I should have already had this right, I'll take it. White people without firearms are victims waiting to happen.