BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Two New Jersey lawmakers have proposed gun legislation that would fund a “safety tax fund” that would pay for security improvements at schools and other buildings.

Assemblywoman Connie Wagner and Assemblyman Tim Eustace are sponsoring the measure.  According to NJ.com, the bill would impose an extra 5% sales tax on guns and ammunition.

The safety tax fund would support security items like cameras, electronic emergency notification systems, devices controlling entrances, and doors that only lock from the inside.

Governor Chris Christie said he planned to form a task force to study violence issues. Christie wants his commission to provide recommendations on promoting school safety, limiting violent video games, and addressing substance abuse and mental health problems.

Christie said, according to NJ Spotlight, “They will come to me with the best ideas they can find. I’m not worried about anybody on any side of this argument. I’m not worried about the NRA, or about the Brady Campaign against gun violence,” he added. “Or any of the other people who are very vulnerable on all sides of this issue.”

The sales tax bill was one in a series of measures introduced by New Jersey legislators since the Newtown school shootings. NewsWorks reported that others included the creation of a system to track ammunition sales, a requirement that handgun ammunition be stamped with a serial number, and including mental-health provisions in New Jersey’s background-check laws.

NorthJersey.com reported that Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald of Camden and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg are sponsoring legislation that would require all ammunition sales to be completed in a face-to-face manner.

Two other bills in the works would reduce the number of bullets magazines could legally hold. New Jersey’s limit is currently 15 rounds.