NJ Legislature Takes Gov Christie To Court Over Relaxed Gun Permit Rules
TRENTON, NJ (CBS) -- A showdown is set in court between the Christie Administration and the New Jersey legislature over relaxation of regulations covering who may carry a gun in public.
New rules went into effect this week that expand what is viewed as "justifiable need" for a carry permit to include a serious threat to one's safety.
Legislators passed resolutions warning the Governor he was going too far, according to Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald of Cherry Hill. So they're taking the issue to Superior Court.
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"It is also a line in the sand about the equal powers and the equal branches of government between the Legislative and the Executive branch," Greenwald told KYW Newsradio. "The Governor has independently misinterpreted the legislative intent."
A request for an immediate stay of Christie's rules was denied, but Greenwald expects this case to play out in time for a ruling before the Governor leaves office in January.
There was no immediate comment from Christie's office on the lawsuit.
Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto agrees, and looks back to another legislative fight with Christie over civil service regulations.
"It's just the same thing that happened with the Civil Service job banding," Prieto said. "The same thing. The rules were being changed. We then had to go to court when we were not being listened to."
Judges vacated a 2014 rule Christie imposed that had allowed promotions by so called "job banding" over traditional civil service testing.