well as applications for gun permits soar in New Jersey and elsewhere safety groups like Moms Demand Action want lawmakers to consider tightening restrictions the advocacy organization was in Trenton this week talking to legislators and holding a rally to push a package of gun safety bills they believe will make New Jersey an even safer place from gun violence Ted Goldberg reports volunteers with Mom's Demand Action marched through Trenton and rallied yesterday hoping to bring attention to their preferred gun policies and candidates everything is at stake our children's lives are at stake so what are we going to do we're going to elect gunsense candidates the gun safety group is advocating for three new bills one would enable Medicaid funding to be used to help survivors of gun violence another would raise the minimum age to 21 to buy any kind of gun in New Jersey a third would require training for a gun permit and shorten the renewal time from 10 years to 4 the permitting laws are um are considered to be perfectly in line with uh the second amendment that almost all not almost all many many states have permitting requirements so so altering permitting requirements will not be a second amendment issue as far as I I know volunteer Benedict Kalen says she expects these bills to survive any challenge in court Mom's demand action also celebrated a law they helped to pass last year which increases penalties for illegal gun traffickers whose guns result in injuries or death that would not be possible without all your efforts efforts of Moms Demand Action and groups like yours that get in people's ears or like Congressman Bill pascarel used to say and he still does I'm like that little Scotch Terrier I grab him by the toe and I work my way up than will change things can change uh and your involvement in this critical issue is important the trafficker bill passed the state house without a single no vote these new bills could face opposition but assemblywoman Garnet Hall says she's not scared off I'm here to keep the pressure on I'm here to keep the faith and we need each and every one of us to continue continue continue to show up show out take it to the streets if we have to in response to the story Scott Bach executive director of The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol clubs sent us this statement New Jersey already has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation these new schemes by gun ban extremists are an attempted power grab by radicals who won't ever be satisfied until they completely eliminate the right of self-defense Bach successfully sued the state to block a law banning guns in so-called sensitive places and AG Matt plen is appealing lawmaker ERS who attended the rally say New Jersey needs to pass more laws to address gun safety mentioning Grim annual statistics in New Jersey more than 400 people are killed by guns we have a problem with guns in our country and in countries and places where guns are less ubiquitous this terrible statistic doesn't exist gun violence affects everyone individuals communities States and everyone throughout the country it's kind of like the the opioid crisis everyone knows somebody who knows somebody who's been affected by it Callen says they'll advocate for other bills when the time is right we're definitely interested in safe storage issues but they you know either need to um still be worked out the details still need to be worked out or you know the support still needs to be uh developed we reached out to several Republican lawmakers for the story but they were not available before our deadline in Trenton I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight news