A young New Jersey woman who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend while awaiting a permit to purchase a firearm is the latest example of the injustice that results from the Garden State’s draconian gun laws.
It’s also the most tragic.
Carol Bowne, 39, knew that Michael Eitel, a 45-year-old ex con, was a ticking time bomb when she broke up with him, so she took every precaution she could think of, according to Fox News.
She obtained a restraining order, she installed surveillance cameras outside her Berlin Township home and she applied for a gun permit.
But restraining orders mean nothing to ex-cons, and all the security cameras did were to record Eitel savagely and repeatedly stabbing Bowne until she lay in a lifeless, bloody heap in her own driveway, where she was found June 3.
As for the gun permit, which would have been her best shot at survival — it was still on the desk of Berlin Township Police Chief Leonard Check. After six weeks, he hadn’t gotten to it, according to Fox.
“She should have been granted that permit in a timely matter, especially given her status as a domestic violence victim,” Evan Nappen, a New Jersey-based attorney who specializes in Second Amendment cases told Fox News, which reported:
New Jersey’s gun laws are among the nation’s strictest, but law-abiding citizens are eligible to purchase and possess handguns after filling out forms available at their local police stations, submitting to a background check on any possible criminal history or mental health issues, giving fingerprints and paying a fee. Once those steps are taken, local police conduct a 14-point investigation and the chief is supposed to approve or deny for cause within 30 days.
Notwithstanding the statute, gun rights advocates have said it’s not unusual for local police chiefs to sit on gun permit applications for months.
“The gun law’s intention is to be as difficult and cumbersome as possible. They need to be repealed,” Alexander Roubian, president of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society, told FoxNews.com.
“The system is so outdated,” he continued. “In most states, you go to the store, get a background check, and purchase a weapon. A police chief should have no part of the process. This woman had a legitimate issue and no one helped her.”
Eitel, meanwhile, got off easy. He was found Saturday in the garage of another ex-girlfriend, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Criminals can always find a way to get their hands on a firearm — it’s the law-abiding citizens who get the roadblocks thrown in their way.
If there is any good to come from Bowne’s murder, it’s that three state senators — Dawn Addiego, Diane Allen and Jennifer Beck, all Republicans — have introduced legislation to fast-track gun permits submitted by applicants who have obtained restraining orders.
“The tragic murder of Carol Bowne shows that there are sensible changes we should make to public safety laws to help people protect themselves,” said Addiego. “This legislation will make sure that those who need protection the most are given priority when it comes to the lengthy process of applying for a firearms permit.”
However, Bowne would have still faced a problem, Nappen observed, in that she could in theory have faced charges had she used a legally obtained firearm to defend herself outside her home. Her body, remember, was found in her driveway.
“New Jersey does not allow law-abiding citizens to get a carry license,” Nappen said.
Other law-abiding citizens had plenty to say on social media.
@nranews @FoxNews “when seconds count, the police are only minutes away!”
— reagan 229 (@AGlipt) June 10, 2015
New Jersey slow-tracked Carol Bowne’s gun permit. Now she’s dead. http://t.co/RFB8W3JZ9P #2A #sgp #CarolBowne
— Smart Girl Politics (@OfficialSGP) June 8, 2015
@nranews @FoxNews I bet Bloomberg considers this a win for his Every Town for Dead Women.
— Mr. Plinky (@mr_plinky) June 10, 2015
@nranews @FoxNews how many more lives ruined/loss before these dangerous un-common-sense laws are repealed? #2a #gunsense #notonemore
— Andy Rado (@USMCOper) June 10, 2015
Police officer Jack Decker noted the irony that many high-profile gun control advocates don’t have to worry about self-protection — they have their own armed bodyguards.
What happened to #CarolBowne would never happen to @shannonrwatts… Bloomberg bought her lots of guys with guns because #gunsense .@1MMAGC
— Jack Decker (@MrDecker1MMAGC) June 10, 2015
Notice how the gutless liars at @MomsDemand, @Everytown, & @CSGV won’t acknowledge #CarolBowne ?
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) June 7, 2015
#CarolBowne is dead because she lived in the conditions @shannonrwatts wants to force on the rest of the nation.
— Bob Owens (@bob_owens) June 5, 2015
And then there was this:
@FoxNews @perrych that wouldn’t happen in Texas.
— Lone Wolf (@LoneWolf_nWo) June 10, 2015
Other recent examples of the injustices New Jersey gun laws have created include Philadelphia mom Shaneen Allen, who transported her legally purchased and licensed handgun into New Jersey, and aspiring police officer Steffon Josey-Davis, who also had a gun in his glove compartment.
Each faced felony convictions, and each later received a full pardon from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
There is no pardon and happy ending for Bowne.
It’s too late for her.
Related posts:
Aspiring police officer arrested on rigid gun charges gets pardon from Gov. Chris Christie
Gov. Christie pardons single mom who accidentally broke NJ gun law
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