Sweeney's gun bill stalls in committee amid Democratic infighting | nj.com
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Assemblyman Joe Cryan (D-Union) is shown in this file photo. Cryan today stalled Senate President Stephen Sweeney's firearms ID bill in committee. Star-Ledger file photoTRENTON —Call it Cryan’s revenge.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney’s enterpiece bill to overhaul the way the state issues firearms IDs and conducts background checks stalled in the Assembly Law and Public Safety committee today after Sweeney’s political adversary, Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), abstained on it.
Cryan’s support was crucial to advancing the bill (S2723). Every Republican on the committee opposed it, as did Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D-Cumberland) – who represents a rural South Jersey district and typically votes against gun control legislation. That left Democrats short one vote.
Realizing the bill did not have the votes to advance, the committee’s chairman, Charles Mainor (D-Hudson), stopped the vote and called a recess. When the committee started back up, they moved on to another bill.
“It didn’t have the votes,” Cryan said after the meeting. “I abstained based on cost concerns ... I along with many other thousands of New Jerseyans have lost a motor vehicle office in our district. We had some real cost concerns about the bill.”
Sweeney (D-Gloucester) is particularly proud of the bill, calling it a “national model.” The legislation, which passed theSenate last week, would encode firearms IDs onto driver’s licenses, create a system for instant background checks and require gun buyers to show they’ve gone through proof of firearms training.
But Cryan and Sweeney, never close, are fighting over who should be the next state Democratic chairman. Cryan backs Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell (D-Hudson), who Democratic gubernatorial nominee Barbara Buono supports. But Sweeney has criticized the choice, and just two weeks ago called O’Donnell “Cryan’s Beard,” referring to the close relationship between the two.
As recently as today, political allies of Sweeney were promoting state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) as chairman instead of O’Donnell. South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross – Sweeney’s political patron – told the website PoltickerNJ.com that he supports Lesniak for state chairman.
Sweeney could not immediately be reached for comment.
Cryan is also a proponent of reducing the allowed capacity of ammunition magazines from 15 to 10. Although a bill to do that was passed by the Assembly, Sweeney has refused to advance it in the upper house.
For his part, Cryan denied politics was behind his abstention.
“The issue is far more important,” he said. “Not what George Norcrosssays.”