On October 20, 2019, an article published on Law Enforcement Today by Mitch McKinley, outlined a new Executive Order signed by Governor Murphy in September that outlaws Insurance Companies from selling any type of Liability Insurance to law abiding gun owners in the State of New Jersey. A link has been posted at the end of this blog for anyone who would like to read the article, or those that think this is fake.
It never ceases to amaze us the lengths that some of these Politicians will go to force their beliefs and will upon the law abiding citizens of this state and our country. As the name of the article states, it is not only Dangerous, but unconstitutional to take away our Second Amendment Right to bear Arms. I know that New Jersey does things that many consider backwards or crazy, but this is just a blatant attack on law abiding gun owners. How can we say this? Very simply put, as I have said many times before in other blog posts, these laws only affect law-abiding citizens because criminals do not pay attention to or follow laws. How do we know this? What is the definition of a criminal? The definition of criminal is someone who commits a crime. The definition of a crime is that a crime or offence, or criminal offence, is an act that is harmful not only to some individual, but also a communtity, society or the state. Such acts are forbidden and punishable by law. While every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law counts as a crime.
The order has given the state 30 days to take all appropriate action “to prohibit and/or limit the sale, procurement, marketing, or distribution of insurance products that may serve to encourage the improper use of firearms.
Due to this idiotic Executive Order, the U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) announced that they will not be able to provide their services for New Jersey Gun Owners. While USCCA, and other groups like them, are not insurance companies, the organization (of which I am a member) does offer concealed-carry liability insurance to its members in the event they are compelled to use their firearms in self-defense. Due to the laws in states like New Jersey, the states want to regulate organizations like USCCA because they list their membership as “beneficiaries” of their coverage. For that reason, they’re regulated by the state much like an insurance company. That is why all companies that offer this liability insurance have to pull out of New Jersey or risk court precedings with the state’s Attorney General’s Office.
For those companies that do not want to comply with the law, the Governor’s Office has bragged that “Last week, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance announced that Lockton Affinity, LLC agreed to pay a $1 million fine as part of a consent order with the department for administering a National Rifle Association-sponsored insurance program in violation of state insurance laws. ” They continued to brag in their press release that “An investigation by the department found that Kansas-based Lockton Affinity violated various state laws and regulations in administering the Carry Guard insurance program in New Jersey on behalf of the NRA. Offering an insurance product marketed by the NRA that encourages firearm use is a serious violation of public policy and today’s executive order takes steps to limit such policies’ availability in the State.”
The Cary Guard insurance was created to protect those who legally carry guns. The anti-gun activists have labeled this as a “murder insurance.” And unfortunately the State of New Jersey and Governor Murphy are treating this liability insurance as just that. This Executive Order not only goes after the law abiding gun owners, but it also goes after gun makers and retailers to make sure that they have adopted what the State feels are the best practices to reduce gun violence and to get rid of straw purchasers, firearms traffickers and people who have been banned from owning or purchasing firearms. Again, those that are criminals. There is that damn word again! Punish those who do not commit crimes by removing the ability to insure themselves, but do not prosecute the criminals actually committing the crimes with the laws that are already on the books. Makes a hell of a lot of sense.
This idiot said that the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance would scrutinize all liability insurance offered in the state that encouraged the improper use of firearms. Does anyone think that anyone with half a brain would actually do this? What is even more outrageous is that the executive order did not define what the state considered “improper use of firearms” other than its obvious objection to concealed carry. The executive order eliminates the financial protection that groups like USCCA afford law-abiding citizens of New Jersey. Anyone who uses a firearm to defend themselves, wounding or killing an assailant, will likely face a criminal trial, a wrongful-death civil suit, or both. These fights are not easy and definitely not cheap.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) said that Murphy’s executive order also exceeds the governor’s authority by trying to regulate interstate commerce. “The governor views licensed and law-abiding small businesses that are just trying to earn a living and are engaged in the commerce of a constitutionally protected product [as] somehow the problem,” NSSF General Counsel Lawrence Keene said.
Governor Murphy signed another executive order (also back in September) that leverages the state’s purchasing power to coerce gun retailers, manufacturers, and financial institutions to comply with a more stringent gun-control regime. Sounds like the Governor is trying to be the big bully on the block.
And as we stated earlier in our blog, the article acknowledges the fact that the Democratic Party and their Candidates are touting to sign legislation into law that takes guns away from law-abiding citizens, and they refuse to acknowledge that the criminals who perpetrate breaking the law do not follow the laws anyway. The mainstream media and social media are working just as hard as the Democrats to get rid of the Second Amendment by silencing their opponents and limiting their coverage and reach, even in some cases just outright banning them. Wake up New Jersey and America.
Now the Assembly Bill 6303 that I blogged about being introduced in the Assembly this session makes more sense. Hope you do not mind giving up all of your rights.
Dangerous and Unconstitutional: Way to go Gov!
