Report made in wake of mass shootings suggests no change on gun laws

A New Jersey study commission on violence, convened in the bloody aftermath of mass shootings such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, has recommended a long list of new initiatives, but no changes in gun laws.

The 75-page report by the Study Commission on Violence addresses violence as a public health problem and recommends programs aimed at establishing healthy attitudes in young people to help counter youth violence; establishing a "Division on Violence Prevention and Intervention" in each county to combine resources; and improving delivery of mental health services, including for people caught up in the criminal justice system.

But the panel, tasked in 2013 by Gov. Chris Christie and Legislature after a string of mass shootings, refrained from calling for any new state gun-control initiatives, suggesting fault for the state's gun woes lay elsewhere.

The commission's report noted that New Jersey has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Moreover, the report found that, of the 3,834 guns used in crimes in New Jersey in 2013, 87 percent were purchased in another state.

"In sum, while guns play a significant role in incidents of violent crime in New Jersey, most of the guns used in the commission of crime appear to be purchased from out-of-state and brought into New Jersey," the report said.

The 2013 measure that tasked the study commission to address this "grave public health crisis" noted six shootings, including the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, where 26 were killed, and the 13 who died at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

While the Legislature, in the measure authorizing the study, called on Washington policymakers to reinstate a ban on assault weapons, expand required background checks on gun buyers and lift a ban that prohibits the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting firearms research, the commission passed on those items.

The commission, however, noted the following:

To prevent youth violence, young people could be taught about situations or actions likely to result in violence, including possessing firearms.

Nationally, guns are the most commonly used weapon for suicides; guns are second to suffocation for suicides in New Jersey.

Firearms were used in 69 percent of the nation’s murders, 40 percent of robberies and 21.6 percent of aggravated assaults.

The "presence of gangs, guns and drugs in a locality is a potent mixture, increasing the likelihood of violence."

There appears to be a connection between mass shootings and domestic violence. Of 43 mass shooting — defined as incidents where at least 4 people are shot — between 2009 and 2013, in at least 17 cases (40 percent), the shooter killed a current or former spouse or intimate partner; at least six of those shooters (20 percent) had a prior domestic violence charge.

The report suggests developing a "violence prevention awareness campaign" to address issues including gun violence.

The commission's report cited a 2013 study titled "Why Gun Laws Matter," by The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The study gave New Jersey the third highest ranking (an A-) among states for gun control laws.

Reaction to the findings were mixed.

“We are concerned that the report doesn’t focus enough on gun violence, which is one of the most significant causes of deadly violence and one of the main reasons for the report," Richard McGrath, spokesman for Senate President Steve Sweeney, said in an email. "There are actions that can and should be taken to better protect our citizens."

"Once again, this only reiterates and confirms that you cannot legislate criminal activity," Alexander P. Roubian, president of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society, wrote in an email. "The fallacy that more laws will magically stop criminals from acquiring any form of weapon has been demonstrated to be a massive failure and has only perpetuated victimhood of honest citizens."

Gary Brandon, president of Asbury Park Neptune Ministerial Alliance, called for increased gun control.

“I’m a little concerned about the types of weapons that people should be able to purchase," he said. "Certainly, I understand people who want to have guns to hunt and people who want to have guns to protect themselves and their property, to a certain extent. But I think there should be some type of limit as to what types of weapons people are able to purchase. I don’t know the average citizen is well-served by being able to purchase assault weapons, and things like that.”

The commission's report comes amid a fresh skirmish over gun control in Trenton. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat, has scheduled an Oct. 22 vote to override the governor's veto of S-2360, which would provide judges with relevant information from law enforcement when people seek to expunge their mental health records in order to purchase a firearm.

"This is a common sense bill and we hope Republican legislators will do the right thing and support the override," Sweeney's spokesman wrote in an email.

Last summer, lawmakers from both parties voted unanimously to support the gun-control measure, only to be met with a governor's veto. Since then, the list of mass shootings has only grown, including a June 17 shooting spree inside a Charleston, Sourth Carolina, church, where nine were killed, and an Oct. 1 attack at a community college in Oregon, where 10 died.

Christie, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, has made an about face on gun control. Two years ago, his staff said "the governor supports New Jersey's already tough gun laws." More recently, while on the campaign trail, Christie said New Jersey has "some of the worst gun laws in America. All of which were passed before I became governor."

Besides guns, the report is vast. The "Study Commission on Violence" was instructed to "study the trends of violence, the source of violence, and the impact of violence on the community, to develop a method to address the epidemic of violence at the federal and state levels, and to make recommendations for state and congressional action."

The report takes a holistic approach to many types of violence, examining youth violence, child neglect, domestic violence, suicide and homicide, scrutinizing statistics and risk factors and recommending a wide variety of improvements.

Findings include:

Overall, crime is trending down in New Jersey, but not evenly. In the past 10 years, violent crimes have decreased 18 percent statewide, but only 1 percent in the six major urban cities (Camden, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Newark and Trenton).

Homicide rates among blacks, particularly black men, have trended upward since 2009.

In New Jersey, roughly 80 percent of all violent crime occurs in just 21 cities. Statewide, homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds and 25 to 34-year-olds, and suicide is in the top five for every age group from ages 15 through 54.

Substance abuse, a history of being a victim and a lack of non-violent problem-solving skills are factors that increase someone's risk of encountering every category of violence. Similarly, witnessing violence is a risk factor for all but one type of violence perpetration. Family conflict and harmful norms around masculinity and femininity were contributing factors to all but two types of violence perpetration.

The New Jersey Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board reported that of the 158 deaths from 2011 that were reviewed, 50 percent of child suicide victims had been involved in or exposed to domestic violence, and 38 percent of the child homicides involved perpetrators who also had domestic violence in their history.

Nine of 21 counties reported a presence of 90 or more gangs. Monmouth has 132, Ocean has 114.

The Institute of Medicine concluded that, although many studies suggest a link between mental illnesses and violence, the contribution of people with mental illnesses to overall rates of violence is small. The magnitude of the relationship is greatly exaggerated in the minds of the general population. Individuals with a mental health disability are more likely to be victims of violent crime as opposed to perpetrators of violent crime. On the other hand, violence is correlated with substance abuse. One survey of people getting addiction treatment found that 75 percent had a past incident of violent behavior. It is when substance abuse co-occurs with mental illness that we see a connection to criminal activity.

Recommendations include:

There is no single program or initiative that will address all of the issues the commission was charged with examining. The greatest chance of success comes from a multi-disciplinary approach.

Intervening with young people, focusing on building healthy behaviors, especially for those who are at risk or who have shown a propensity toward violence. This means programs to encourage kids to finish secondary schooling, vocational training, drug abuse prevention, programs for social skills like managing anger, therapeutic programs to counsel victims of violence.

Influencing the personal relationships victims and perpetrators have. This would be training for parents to improve bonds between parents and children; mentoring programs that pair at-risk youth with a caring adult; programs to get nurses or mental health professionals to visit the homes of families in need.

Community-based interventions like public education campaigns, using the media to address community violence, repairing street lighting, extracurricular activities for young people, community policing that emphasizes "walking the beat," having officers get to know residents they serve.

County Prosecutors should develop protocols, consistent with Attorney General guidelines, for investigating campus sexual assaults.

Study police-community relations: form a group of police, community and faith leaders, and academic experts to examine efforts on building trust between police and communities, consider creating citizens police review boards, review the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

Although the commission was directed to seek funding and grants, the report says the commission isn't the right way to apply for grants. The report recommended creating a website that listed all violence prevention and reduction grant programs to strengthen the public's understanding of these options.

Improve mental health care by: establishing a mental health unit for state health insurance as long as it wouldn't negatively impact access to care, consider early intervention services, provide funding to expand outpatient treatment, consider expanding screening centers and community-based points of entry for those with substance abuse and mental illness, launch a media campaign to remove the stigma of mental illness.

Expand programs that divert those with mental health issues from court.

Work to reduce wait times for those seeking outpatient mental health treatment

Here's the law that created the commission:

Here's the whole report: