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Release of New Jersey gun data called trailblazing, troubling

Published  May 13, 2018 9:15am EDT
US
FOX 29 Philadelphia

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Gun control advocates are hailing New Jersey's release of near-real-time firearms trafficking data as a trailblazing use of federal information.

But Second Amendment advocates and skeptical Republicans question whether the report amounts to a way around a federal limitation on the release of some data.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled the data for the first time on Tuesday as part of a campaign promise to strengthen New Jersey's already-tight gun laws.

The report uses Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives gun-trace data for the first quarter of 2018 and shows that 77 percent of guns used in crimes in New Jersey come from out of state.

Second Amendment advocates question whether Murphy is circumventing a prohibition barring the ATF from giving certain gun data to anyone but law enforcement.