It’s “too early to tell” if New Jersey will limit firearms sales in the state to only include so-called smart guns, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday.

But if it was up to him, smart guns would be the only type of guns people here would be able to purchase.

“Yes. I hope it does get to that,” Murphy said during his monthly “Ask the Governor” program hosted by News 12 New Jersey.

Murphy was asked about about a half-dozen gun control measures he signed into law last week, including the measure on smart guns, which are firearms that can only be discharged by their owner. The governor gave his response to a question about whether the law he signed was “the first step” in making them the only guns sold in New Jersey.

Smart guns are designed to be safer than typical handguns, using fingerprint and other identification technology to prevent accidental shootings. For instance, they could keep children from firing their parents’ guns.

“I became a believer in this,” Murphy said, recalling when he first learned about smart gun technology.

The law Murphy signed will require gun retailers to put a smart gun on their shelves for customers once the technology is there to mass produce them.

It replaced a 2002 state law that its sponsors conceded helped keep smart guns off the market since it mandated that dealers in the Garden State could sell only smart guns once they became marketable anywhere in the country.

That prevented would-be manufacturers of them from producing smart guns because of backlash from opponents.

Murphy said the new law “corrected" the flaw of manufacturers “dragging their feet.”

However, the governor’s admission that he’d like to see smart guns someday be the only type of firearm sold in the state confirms what New Jersey gun rights groups have feared all along about smart gun technology.

Scott Bach, the head of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, likened the new law to a Trojan Horse when Murphy signed it last week.

“In 2002, the anti-gunners tipped their hand by passing a ban on everything other than a smart gun,” Bach said at the time.

He argued that sent “a chilling effect for gun owners” in the state because “they’re using (this) as a vehicle to ban everything else.”

Bach added: “Gun owners who are normally very interested in new technology … were basically tipped off."

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.

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