Worst Three States for Gun Rights?

Gun Watch ^ | 1 April, 2017 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Which are the worst three states for exercising your right to keep and bear arms? There are several contenders for that dubious distinction. The worst states can be found with the answers to a couple of questions.

First: Do you have to ask government permission to purchase a firearm? Some states require that you obtain permission before purchasing handguns. A smaller subset require that you obtain permission before purchasing any gun. That infringement is a must have for the worst states.  There are twelve states that have the requirement for all guns.  They are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington State. Maryland does not make the list, because you do not need a permit to purchase most rifles and shotguns.

Second: Does the state claim the power to arbitrarily deny people the right to bear arms outside of the home, even after jumping through the hoops to obtain a permit?  The power may be vested in police chiefs, a board or committee, or some other appendage of the state.

The clear infringement is the state can arbitrarily say "sure, you meet the legal qualifications; you have not committed a felony. You haven't been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. You have not been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. You have taken the proper course, passed the test, and are legally allowed by law to own weapons...but...the semi-feudal authority figure does not like the cut of your jib, so he says "Denied", and your rights are infringed. This often takes the form of a subjective judgment that you do not have a "good reason" to have a permit. Strangely, those with money and political connections are usually able to come up with "good reasons".  Not having legal access to carry outside the home cuts the list down to six states.

California, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York are at the top of the list for states hostile to the exercise of Second Amendment rights.

Of those six states, picking the worst three is much more difficult. There are differences. Delaware Requires a background check, but not a separate license to purchase. While the state is "may issue" in law, it is reported as being "shall issue" in practice. It comes off the list.

Massachusetts requires a permit to buy a gun. They require a permit to carry a gun. One permit will allow you to do both, so people are opting for that permit instead of alternatives that are only slightly less onerous.  Because of this , the number of people with Massachusetts carry permits is a respectable 7.6% of adults.  Getting a permit may be difficult in Massachusetts. A permit is not guaranteed. Most Massachusetts residents  who want one can get one and may bear arms.  Massachusetts gets dropped off the list.

California bans private sales. You must go through a government controlled dealer to legally buy a gun. You have to register guns that you make yourself. But California does not require a special state permit to buy a gun. Many areas of California issue concealed carry permits on essentially a "shall issue" basis. California is a contender because of the insane and recent spate of anti-rights laws, but they are off the list of the top three.  That leaves the three worst states: Hawaii, New York, and New Jersey.

New Jersey is the worst of the three. While they issue more permits to carry than Hawaii, the permits nearly all go to retired judges, police officers, and people with considerable "pull" (political connections).  It is extremely difficult to obtain a New Jersey carry permit. New Jersey had about 1200 permits active in 2016.  All other states issue more carry permits than that. All firearms ownership and use in New Jersey is controlled by statute.  That is, everything about firearms that is not permitted, is forbidden. There are regular stories about people with innocent intentions being caught up in firearms laws that defy common sense. New Jersey is the only state that defines a tubular magazine fed .22 hunting rifle as an "assault weapon".  For a while, a Daisy BB gun was considered an "assault weapon" in New Jersey.  A large, subjective part of what makes New Jersey the worst, is the state structure seems quite willing to ignore their own rules, such as time limits on issuing permits. The impression is the rule of law is more the rule by local power brokers in New Jersey. New Jersey is one of the six states that has no right to keep and bear arms provision in the state constitution.

New York might not have made the list except for the "SAFE" Act passed in 2013.  New York eliminated the New York State lifetime handgun permit. Permits now have to be renewed every five years. The SAFE act requires that all firearm purchases go through a government dealer, with extremely limited exceptions. The act requires that all ammunition purchases be done through a licensed dealer, a provision that is not yet fully law in California. There is widespread resistance to the SAFE Act, especially in upstate New York. But 43 percent of New York State residents live in New York City, where it is very difficult to obtain a permit to even purchase a pistol, let alone carry one. In California, while it is very difficult to obtain a permit to carry in the urban centers, it is much easier to purchase handguns legally. In California, carry permits are valid throughout the state. State carry permits in New York are not valid in New York City.  Stories where New York authorities ignore their own firearms law to impose more stringent restrictions are rampant. New York is another of the six states that have no right to keep and bear arms in the state constitution.

Hawaii is as bad as New Jersey for most of their firearm laws. They are worse when it comes to issuing carry permits. In a fair number of years, there are no permits issued to private citizens for self defense for the entire state.  You have to apply to a permit authority to buy any firearm legally.  The authority to buy long guns only lasts for one year. The authority to buy a handgun only lasts for 10 days. There are a fairly large number of long guns that were grandfathered in the law before July 1, 1994. They are not required to be registered. No one knows just how many exist.  Hawaii has a better reputation for following their own rules than New Jersey or New York. The Hawaii Constitution's right to bear arms provision is a copy of the Second Amendment.

Reasonable people can differ on the three worst states for the exercise of Second Amendment rights. Nearly every list will contain New Jersey. Contentions exist about the other two. My vote is for New York and Hawaii.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

[marktwain]

New Jersey is the worst. People can differ on the rest.

[Darksheare]

CA, NY, NJ should be the top, or near the top on any list.

[catman67]

Don’t forget MD. State requires special check (permit) to purchase handguns and certain “scary” “regulated weapons”.

Many of the regulated weapons are now banned outright.

State requires 5 day (actually 7 day) waiting period.
State is “may issue” in theory, but “no issue” in practice (unless you are politically connected).

Can no longer transfer firearms among family members (except vanilla rifles and shotguns).

[Darksheare]

Yup.
And the permanent “assault weapon” ban that Governor Romney happily signed into law.
(Which Romneybots promptly ignored, or tried to explain away. Just like the Christiebots trying to explain away the 11 anti-2nd Amendment laws that Chrispy Chreme happily signed into law.)

[mewzilla]

Does NJ have a “duty to retreat” requirement? NYS does.

[Gay State Conservative]

Massachusetts has got to be among the worst.But curiously Vermont,right next door and home to Comrade Bernie,is one of the best.

Go figure!

[Gay State Conservative]

Does NJ have a “duty to retreat” requirement? NYS does.

IIRC Supreme Court Justice John Jay openly acknowledged that jurors have the power to engage in "jury nullification" (my words).In keeping with that there are at least a few laws with which I strongly disagree..."hate crimes" and "duty to retreat" being just two.

So if I'm on the jury of a case where the prosecutor stresses "duty to retreat" that defendant gets a "not guilty" from me.And I also try to convince my fellow jurors to vote "not guilty" (kinda like 12 Angry Men).

[SnuffaBolshevik]

"State is “may issue” in theory, but “no issue” in practice (unless you are politically connected)."

So true.

In my opinion, MD is worse than MA when you consider the totality of gun rights.

In MD, to get a carry permit you (in reality) have to be a retired LEO or judge, big donor, or carry large amounts of cash on a regular basis. There are a few more allowed but the hoops are pretty onerous. Regular people are more or less screwed. And these restrictions are uniform across the state.

An acquaintance who moved to western Mass. had a carry permit in 2 months. Apparently it is the call of the local chief of police who gets one up there. Boston area, not looking good. Out west you have a pretty good chance if you're not a schmuck.

[mewzilla]

That may keep someone outta jail, but it won’t cover their legal fees. My bet is that there are many DAs who’d be happy to settle for bankrupting a defendant.

[marktwain]

Does NJ have a “duty to retreat” requirement? NYS does.

---

Yes, but “duty to retreat” is far less than most people think. Here is a quote from jury instructions in NJ:

“If you find that the defendant knew that he/she could avoid the necessity of using deadly force by retreating, provided that the defendant knew he/she could do so with complete safety, then the defense is not available to him/her”

[mewzilla]

Interesting, thanks! There’s yet another reason never to move to NJ!

[Delmarksman]

This article lost me in the first paragraph. Delaware does NOT have a permission requirement to purchase any firearm.

The only thing NOT allowed in DE are Select Fire and Suppressors. No requirements for Open Carry but CCW is “May Issue” however, everyone who applies that does not have a criminal history, will likely receive their permit if they go through the process.

All transfers must go through an FFL except, CCW to CCW permit holder.
No issues with Full Capacity magazines and modern Sporting Rifles are sold without any issues. No ammo restrictions or permits.

NJ and MD are far more restricted than DE, taking umbrage with the article, not your post marktwain.

[imardmd1]

First: Do you have to ask government permission to purchase a firearm? Some states require that you obtain permission before purchasing handguns. A smaller subset require that you obtain permission before purchasing any gun. That infringement is a must have for the worst states. There are twelve states that have the requirement for all guns. They are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington State. Maryland does not make the list, because you do not need a permit to purchase most rifles and shotguns.

DELAWARE is NOT on this list!! DO NOT claim this to be so!!

The author is absolutely wrong, and needs to research such inflammatory articles. Weingarten has relinquished any regard I have for his journalism.

In Delaware you can buy a handgun right at any gun show, let alone at a sporting goods store, simply by being of age and passing the Federally-mandated instant background check. That is not a state permission.

But in order to SELL a firearm PRIVATELY, the sale must be processed through a gun dealer who has access to the Instant Check. However, a recent novel statute was created in that you cannot let a person outside the household to "borrow" a firearm without it being officially transferred.

Regarding CCDW licensing, Delaware is not a "shall issue" state, although there is no great reluctance to issue a CCDW license to anyone who is of age, applies to the Prothonotary of the Superior Court with five documented character witnesses residing in the state, takes a state-approved course of instruction in firearm safety and CCDW use, and is approved by the Superior Court Judge.

Weingarten wrongly accuses Delaware as being a repressive state, although its attitude toward 2nd Amendment has many enemies in the legislature and executive branches. It is a constant battle with them for Constitutional attitudes to be maintained (and that would be for any issue, not just gun ownership and use).

[dangerdoc]

I found the article to be inaccurate regarding Colorado also.

[marktwain]

All transfers must go through an FFL

---

If all transfers must go through an FFL, then government permission is required. What if the FBI says “no transfer”?

Then no transfer will legally occur.

[SkyDancer]

IL requires a permit to even touch a gun let alone buy ammunition.

[marktwain]

I found the article to be inaccurate regarding Colorado also.

---

Colorado also requires all transfers to go through a federally licensed dealer. Thus, all transfers must be accomplished with government permission to be legal.

All the personal information of the buyer is recorded and turned over to the federal government, either immediately or some time in the future. All the information on the firearm, including make, model, and serial number must be recorded on a permanent record that either now, or later, is transferred to the federal government.

Universal Background Checks are simply a big step toward universal federal gun registration.

[marktwain]

IL requires a permit to even touch a gun let alone buy ammunition.

---

True, but it does not require this for each gun purchase (one permit, the FOID card, is used for years), and it has a “shall issue” permit system.

[SkyDancer]

Agreed.

[Ancesthntr]

I grew up in NJ. I had to get 2 people that I knew to sign off on me buying a handgun - EACH TIME - before I could even go to the local PD and ask the chief’s permission. Also, as the article says, they don’t obey their own law’s time limits (”yeah, I can read and I know what the law says, but we’re backed up and you’re just gonna have to wait, whether you like it or not.”)

I regularly went to PA with a friend, and bought 20- and 30-round magazines...which I couldn’t take to the range, for fear of being arrested. I do have a funny story about that, though: On my way to Texas in late 2000, I had all of my guns, ammo and mags in the car with me (I NEVER trust the movers to take that kind of stuff, no matter how well boxed up and hidden). When we got to the “Welcome to Delaware” sign on the Delaware Memorial Bridge I turned to my wife and said, “Well, now you won’t have to bail me out of jail.” She looked at me in the weirdest way, and asked me why. I explained NJ’s law regarding magazines (nothing over 15 rounds capacity, period, for any reason), and the penalties (between 5 and 10 years per count). She then asked me how many of these I had. I told her, “Oh, about 200 years worth in Rahway State Prison.” She turned white as a sheet, and was (for her, very uncharacteristically) silent. Then she asked if Texas had any laws like that. I replied, “No, Texas is in America.”

NJ is probably the worst state, mainly because it is largely run by politicians who were elected by the refugees from NYC. Those refugees running, btw, from the corruption, blight and criminality that the people they elected in NYC created through their Leftist policies...and they never learned a damned thing from the experience. They are like a swarm of locusts, moving from an area that they just stripped of all worth to the next one. Trust me, I know, I have a (now deceased) uncle and an aunt who did just that (and raised 3 kids to be the same).

Anyhow, I had the opportunity to move to Texas in late 2000. While the gun issue wasn’t on the top of my list of reasons to leave, I can promise you that the dichotomy between the laws of the 2 states was not in the “Reasons to stay in NJ” column. I will NEVER go back to NJ, except for very brief visits.