TRENTON -- New Jersey residents who can prove "serious threats" against their lives may now get their gun permits processed in as little as a month, acting state Attorney General Robert Lougy announced Friday.

The attorney general's office also moved to clarify parts of New Jersey's gun transport laws, which carry some of the harshest punishments in the nation. For example, Garden State gun owners with firearms in their car will now be permitted to stop at a gas station or to use a restroom on their way home from the gun range.

On the eve of his presidential campaign launch in June, Gov. Chris Christie vowed to expedite the processing of gun permits for New Jersey residents whose life safety has been threatened, and to offer greater clarity on how gun owners can comply with the firearm transport laws.

When submitting an application for a permit to carry a handgun, New Jersey residents must detail a "justifiable need" to local police to be approved to carry a firearm. However, almost no one outside of former police and sheriffs deputies and those employed as armed security guards are ever approved to do so.

The new regulation adds evidence of "serious threats" to the circumstances that could demonstrate a special danger to the applicant's life, including those that "are not directed specifically at an individual but which establish more than mere generalized fears or concerns."

The changes were made in response to the murder of a Berlin Township woman last June. Three weeks after Carol Bowne, 39, was murdered in the driveway of her home while still awaiting approval for a gun permit, the governor announced he would appoint a commission that would make recommendations on how to reform the permitting process.

Bowne had both secured a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend and filed an application for a firearm permit in April 2015. Less than two months later, with her application delayed beyond the 30-day processing deadline, she was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend.

In a statement, Christie called Bowne's murder a "terrible tragedy" that was "a jarring example of a permitting system that had failed and needed to be reexamined and fixed."

However, gun rights activists were not so sure that the problem has been fixed.

In an interview with New Jersey Advance Media, Alexander Roubian, president of the New Jersey 2nd Amendment Society, said while the move was "a step in the right direction" there was no incentive to force local police departments to move expeditiously when processing gun permit applications.

"Until there are punishments for those officials who break the law, we don't expect much to change," Roubian said. "We don't expect police departments to respect it."

The new regulations do not contain any penalties for officers who delay in processing of gun permit applications.

"Remember: The statutes were already there," said Roubian. "We expect the police to respect and obey the law when it comes to applying for a firearm and a permit. But certain towns actively work against you to make sure you don't get it."

In a statement emails to NJ Advance Media, Scott L. Bach, the executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, also welcomed executive actions, calling the new rules a "modest incremental improvement."

Meanwhile, the attorney general's office also moved to clarify vague portions of New Jersey's strict gun transport laws.

"I have seen far too many instances in my time as governor of otherwise lawful gun owners facing severe criminal penalties when they have no intent to violate the law in the routine transport of their lawfully owned firearms," Christie said.

In New Jersey, residents may transport a firearm that is unloaded and properly stored without a carry permit to and from their home and business, hunting, shooting ranges and while moving between residences.

New Jersey law allows, but does not define, "reasonably necessary" deviations in the course of that direct travel. As such, someone carrying a gun in their vehicle may find it legally impossible to stop for gas or even use a restroom on the way home.

While not an exclusive list, some examples of deviations that now qualify as "reasonably necessary" include "collecting and discharging passengers; purchasing fuel, food and beverages, medication, or other needed supplies; using a restroom; contending with an emergency situation; or driving around a traffic jam."

Lougy said in a statement that the new transport guideline would "provide uniformity across the state" and provide "additional clarity to police, prosecutors, and law abiding gun owners."

Bach, the gun rights activist, agreed.

"Honest citizens who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights should not have to wait months or years for permits, and should not have to live in fear of imprisonment for stopping while traveling to the range," Bach said in an email.

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.