TRENTON -- The fight to ease New Jersey's tough gun laws is hitting close to home for state Senate President Stephen Sweeney.



On Sunday, about a dozen gun rights activists from the New Jersey Second Amendment Society gathered on the sidewalk of his West Deptford ranch house for the second consecutive weekend to protest what they claim was the role of state gun laws in the June 3 stabbing murder of Carol Bowne.



Saying his wife was distraught and his special needs daughter frightened and crying, Sweeney (D-Gloucester) acknowledged he turned on his lawn sprinklers, spraying those who declined to disperse.



"If we knew the sprinklers would be on, we would have shown up in our bathing suits," said Alexander Roubian, the president of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society.

In a video posted by the group, before the sprinklers were activated, Sweeney's wife, Patti, is seen asking protesters to take up their signs at the Statehouse or Sweeney's offices, explaining they were upsetting their daughter. At one point Patti Sweeney is heard saying, "You have no right to do this to us."

Later in the video, the Senate president is seen walking to his car, declining to speak with protesters or Bowne's brother.

Roubian had sought to press Sweeney (D-Gloucester) to relax the state's gun control laws, claiming they made it impossible for Bowne, a Berlin woman who was stabbed to death in her own driveway by a former boyfriend, to protect herself. She'd gotten a restraining order against her attacker, installed security system and in April started what proved to be a months-long permitting process to obtain a handgun that was still ongoing at the time of her murder.

First-time gun purchasers must first go to their local police station, fill out forms, undergo a background check to ensure they have no disqualifying mental health issues or criminal history, submit references, and pay a nominal fee. Police then conduct an investigation and are supposed to give a decision within 30 days, though many townships take two to three months, as is the case with Berlin Township, according to its police chief.

Sweeney noted he had previously sought to expedite the processing of firearms purchaser cards as part of 2013 bill that would have encoded permit information on the magnetic strip on driver's licenses or separate photo ID cards. However, Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed it, writing that "none of the technology necessary for this system exists ..." Many gun rights activists also opposed the measure, citing privacy concerns.

On June 9, Christie answered a question about the Bowne murder at a speaking engagement in New Hampshire, saying Democratic lawmakers will "have to answer" for New Jersey's gun laws that delayed her purchase of a firearm.

Sweeney defended turning on the sprinklers.

"People have every right to demonstrate and protest, and there are appropriate places to do that," Sweeney told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday.

"I have a district office, a Statehouse office. They have chosen to demonstrate at my home to intimidate me and my family, and they have been successful in scaring the hell out of my daughter, who has Down's Syndrome. They should be very proud."



Mark Ehly, the brother of Carol Bowne, attended the protest. He said he had little sympathy for Sweeney, who has declined to change legislation on who can carry a gun in New Jersey.



"I guess anybody would try to protect their kid," Ehly said. "My parents tried protect their daughter, and see where she is now? She's murdered."

Even if Bowne's handgun permit had been approved, gun rights activists say New Jersey's tough gun laws would have prevented her from carrying her gun with her when she returned home and was ambushed in her driveway.

RELATED:

Roubian and Ehly said they hoped to press Sweeney to loosen the restrictions on who is permitted to carry a gun in the state, something Sweeney says he opposes.

"We want to drive the point home," said Roubian, "that there's no reason he should be able to go home to his family when we're all becoming victims to the law he supports and stands for while Carol's family cannot have that luxury, when they have to carry that pain every day, wherever they go, because of Stephen Sweeney's arrogance."



Ehly said he was disappointed by Sweeney's unwillingness to talk to him about his family's loss or changing the state's carry permit laws.



Sweeney said the surviving members of the Bowne family "never reached out to me" previously, something Ehly acknowledges.



"The 'outreach' was for me to apologize because I caused the murder," said Sweeney, "and I am not accepting that I did this. But if they had (reached out) I would have expressed my condolences as I already had in the press: that my heart goes out to the family for losing a sister in such a violent way."



In the meantime, Ehly says he's not sure about whether he'll meet with Sweeney to discuss the matter further.



"When she's threatened by a known criminal, they should have looked at it a little more serious than an average Joe. Someone in her situation, it should be done in a week and be able to carry," Ehly said."Talking, it ain't gonna do nothing."

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com