In this day and age, Democrats argue that any disparity in outcome is because of racial bias.
I don't always agree with that. For example, the lack of black players in the NHL isn't because the NHL is excluding black players but because there just aren't a lot of black men who have chosen to pursue hockey. But what happens when the standard in place is purely subjective? That's what New Jersey seems to be doing with gun permits.
See, like a lot of states, New Jersey had a "may issue" concealed carry law, where people had to have a good reason to get a concealed carry permit. The Bruen decision sort of shattered that nonsense once and for all, saying that you couldn't use any such standard.
But that decision didn't shut all of the doors. Several states started using some variation of a requirement to show good moral character, including New Jersey.
New Jersey’s response to the Bruen decision came in the form of new laws, such as the “Carry Killer” Law of December 2022, which added many “sensitive places” where guns are banned and strengthened subjective standards used to deny permits. A key statute that remains an obstacle for gun owners is N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(c)(5), which states that authorities can deny a permit if the applicant is found to lack “the essential character of temperament necessary to be entrusted with a firearm.”
What does that even mean? Simply put, it’s vague and subjective. The problem with this is that it gives too much discretion to the people in charge of issuing permits—whether it’s a local police chief, the state police, or a Judge. They can deny someone’s permit application just because they don’t “like” them or find some reason to doubt their character. This is where things get tricky, especially when it comes to racial bias.
So, basically, they just found a new way to apply "may issue" permitting rules.
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In theory, this door was left open so local officials could deny a permit to, say, the guy they all know is the biggest drug dealer in town but is too smart to get caught with the product. Hypothetically, anyway.
However, in practice, it looks very different.
Racial Disparities in Gun Permit Denials: Blacks Are Denied Permits at Double the Rate!
John Petrolino uncovered some startling facts when he dug into New Jersey’s firearm permit data. According to the data (provided by the state itself), Black applicants are being denied gun permits at a rate 2.5 times higher than white applicants. That’s more than double the rate!
What’s even more shocking is that these denials are often based on non-criminal reasons, using those same subjective standards mentioned earlier. Petrolino found that Black applicants are being denied at a 2.2 times higher rate than white applicants simply based on “character” judgments. This means that Black applicants, even without any criminal background, are facing discrimination when trying to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
The data doesn’t lie, and it raises serious concerns about whether New Jersey’s apparently racisit gun permit process is fair for everyone.
If this used some form of objective criteria, I'd argue that we need to look for underlying issues, but New Jersey isn't using any such objective standard.
If it was based on personal choice, then there wouldn't be a problem to talk about. People are free to make whatever choice they want.
But this is a subjective standard and black applicants are being denied more than twice the rate of white applicants.
As someone born and raised in the Deep South, I've had a lot of people try to lecture me about how racist my neck of the woods is, but we don't deny black men and women their right to keep and bear arms. We don't keep them from carrying a gun for self-defense.
The only way they're denied is when they cannot lawfully own a firearm. Period.
That's an objective standard that cannot be undermined by racial bias.
Democrats routinely like to argue that disparity in outcomes is the result of racism. New Jersey is heavily Democrat. I wonder if they'll even bother to acknowledge what was found here or just keep being the same racists who are upset that Republicans took their slaves away.
