Advocacy E-News June 17, 2014
June 17, 2014
NJ ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFERS $1 MILLION FOR STUN GUN DEPLOYMENT
The state Attorney General’s Office today announced that it will provide $1 million to help law enforcement agencies purchase stun guns, the use of which has been hampered in New Jersey because of the high cost of the two state-approved devices. New Jersey was the last state in the country to approve the use of stun guns. Regulations allow police to stun anyone threatening death or serious injury. The Attorney General’s Office also announced that it would ease training and re-qualification requirements.
CODEY PLANS BILL TO CREATE NJ GUN VIOLENCE ‘RESTRAINING ORDERS’
A New Jersey lawmaker wants friends and family to be able to get guns temporarily taken away from loved ones they believe are mentally unstable. State Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) plans to introduce the measure. Under the bill, if alerted by friends or family members about a person’s mental health, law enforcement officials would be able to petition a judge to grant a temporary restraining order prohibiting that person from purchasing or possessing firearms.
HOUSE DEMS TO FLOAT MENTAL HEALTH BILL
House Democrats are preparing to introduce their own comprehensive mental health bill amid fiery debate over Republican legislation responding to the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. The Democratic bill would gut language in a GOP bill that makes it easier to put seriously mentally ill people into involuntary outpatient treatment, along with other changes. The legislation will set off another round of debate in Congress over how best to reform the mental health system.
CHRISTIE SAYS NJ GOVERNMENT WON’T SHUT DOWN
Gov. Chris Christie tonight said his administration would likely appeal if a state judge rules that he cannot go through with a controversial plan to reduce payments to New Jersey’s public worker pension system to help balance the troubled state budget. Christie announced last month that he plans to take $2.4 billion meant for the pension system to help cover a $2.7 billion gap in the state budget over the next two years. He has repeatedly said this is the only solution to the issue. Democratic lawmakers have vowed to block Christie’s pension cuts. But that means they either have to find more than $1 billion in cuts over the next two weeks or raise taxes.
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