New Jersey is setting the way by discontinuing business with gun manufacturers and retailers that refuse to go above and beyond federal gun control laws. The gun control laws it had in mind are universal background checks, which cover all private gun sales and transfers.
Further, the state will be pressuring major financial institutions, especially those who do business with the state of New Jersey, into disclosing any information regarding their business dealings with gun manufacturers and vendors. The New Jersey state government, which claims that it pays more than $1 billion in bank fees annually, is considering the use of disclosure requirements to determine if it will continue working with financial firms.
According to state government estimates, New Jersey allegedly spent more than $70 million in recent years on ammunition, firearms, and supplies for the State Police and other law enforcement agencies. These measures were announced on Tuesday, September 10, 2019, by Democratic Governor Phillip Murphy. Such an approach is a new way to implement gun control when the federal government has not been very responsive to the issue lately.
Similarly, prominent banks have taken proactive steps by not providing banking and credit card services to gun retailers and no longer giving out loans to manufacturers who do not follow age limits or conduct enhanced background checks. Gunmakers and stores that are intending to sell firearms to the state’s law enforcement agencies would still have to abide by New Jersey’s stringent gun control laws even if they do business in states with laxer gun laws.
These measures New Jersey is considering are unprecedented and could function as a template for future legislation nationwide. New Jersey is one of the most anti-gun states in the country, being ranked in 50th place according to Guns & Ammo magazine. So, it makes sense that such legislation is possibly going to be used for a trial run in New Jersey.
This is how progressives operate. They act locally, pass a few bills at the state level, and then build enough energy for federal bills to be passed. This has been part of a progressive playbook during the last century.
New Jersey’s new gun control proposal is a clear infringement on gun rights and the private dealings of business. If banks want to refuse to do business with gunmakers, that is their prerogative as private entities. Private companies are free to implement whatever policies they want, but that does not mean they will be immune from social and economic consequences.
As consumers, we still have voices with our dollar and exercise our consumer sovereignty by doing business with organizations that disregard political virtue signaling.
The growing politicization of all parts of society breeds a toxic culture were peaceful social cooperation becomes increasingly difficult. For the sake of our society’s political sanity, let’s keep business and politics separate.
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