Volunteers with New Jersey Chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Rally for Gun Safety in Trenton

TRENTON, N.J. – Today, volunteers and survivors with the New Jersey chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, gathered for their annual Advocacy Day at the statehouse to meet with lawmakers and advocate for lifesaving measures to be passed this legislative session to further strengthen New Jersey’s gun safety laws. Volunteers, advocates and survivors were joined by lawmakers for a rally after their day of implementation workshops and educational discussions with community partners about New Jersey’s gun violence prevention work. 

“We know that public awareness and effective implementation are the keys to our strong gun safety laws and today has been another example of how New Jersey continues to be a national leader by ensuring our communities know how to utilize our laws,” said Jeanne Stifelman, a volunteer with the New Jersey chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We’re grateful to our lawmakers who have partnered with us to ensure we are properly implementing our current gun safety laws, while they continue to push the envelope by introducing new, innovative measures to further address our gun violence crisis. We’ll continue to fight alongside them every step of the way.” 

“The Garden State has demonstrated that strong gun safety laws save lives — but there is still more work to be done and we won’t stop fighting to keep our communities safe,” said Laurence Fine, a volunteer with the Bergen County chapter of Students Demand Action. “Addressing gun violence requires all of us, and we’ve demonstrated our power today. My generation is just getting started, and we’re grateful that we have lawmakers who are ready and willing to join us in this fight.”

Advocates for gun safety and survivors of gun violence were joined by community partners and lawmakers from across the Garden State to discuss the importance of safety measures in previous legislative sessions including the secure storage of firearms, funding for community violence prevention programs, domestic violence prohibitions for firearms, and gun-free zones, among others. Volunteers also advocated in support of several gun violence prevention bills currently being debated in the legislature, including: 

• To increase the minimum age to buy any firearm from 18 to 21 (A931/S3281), 
• To strengthen the requirements for firearm purchaser IDs and permits so that they: expire after 4 years, include a training requirement, and prohibit the inheritance of guns without a permit (A843/S1145), and 
• To create a violence prevention benefit within the Medicaid program to provide essential services to those at high risk of community violence as well as survivors of violence (S1407/A4021). 

New Jersey currently ranks seventh in the country for the strength of its gun laws, and as a result, the Garden State has the fifth-lowest rate of gun deaths in the country. In an average year, 435 people die by guns and another 1,265 people are wounded. Gun violence costs New Jersey $5.3 billion each year, of which $168.9 million is paid by taxpayers. More information about gun violence in New Jersey can be found here.