Everyone WRITE or CALL Governor Christie TODAY!
New Jersey Bill Could Lead to Knife Confiscations & Arrests
Draconian Ivory Ban Slips Through NJ Legislature

New Jersey Governor Chris Cristie has presidential aspirations, so no matter where you live, now its time for everyone to weigh in on the draconian ivory ban recently passed by the New Jersey legislature. CALL or EMAIL Gov. Christie TODAY! See below for details.

In a move that caught just about everyone by surprise, the New Jersey legislature quietly passed S.2012/A.3128, a draconian total ivory ban bill with no exemptions for existing legal ivory and that even bans 10,000-year-old mammoth ivory. This poorly drafted bill even opens the door to outright confiscation of ivory-handled knives and arrest of knife owners! 

Knife Rights unequivocally supports legitimate efforts to stop the illegal slaughter of elephants in Africa, but this bill will not save a single elephant. Unfortunately, instead of going after poachers, smugglers and traders of illicit ivory, the New Jersey legislature has decided to launch an all-out attack on innocent New Jerseyans by passing an absurd TOTAL Ivory Ban that will not save a single living elephant.

Knife Rights has asked Gov. Christie to veto this irrational and ve...  WRITE or CALL the Governor TODAY and ask him to VETO S.2012/A.3128. See links to model letters below.

The NJ Ivory Ban Bill outlaws ALL ivory from ANY ANIMAL (elephant, hippo, mammoth, narwhal, walrus, whale, etc.). It makes it illegal to to import, sell, offer for sale, purchase, barter or possess with intent to sell (a intentionally vague term of law subject to abusive interpretation that could lead to knife confiscations and arrests) any ivory or ivory product with no exceptions for antique or heretofore legal ivory imported decades ago prior to the existing 24-year-old U.S. ban on ivory imports.

This ban would irreparably harm owners of ivory-handled and fossil ivory-handled knives, antiques, musical instruments and any items containing ivory legally imported into this country decades ago by stripping their value - a taking of millions of dollars from law-abiding New Jerseyans. The ban would criminalize legitimate business owners and cause immediate ruinous financial loss for them and many citizens, but there is no credible evidence it would save a single living elephant.

This bill will not save a single elephant because study after study have shown no connection between the legal ivory market in decades-old ivory in the U.S. and poaching in Africa. International and U.S. studies document that virtually all the ivory poached in Africa goes to China where it is valued at 6 times the price of decades-old legal ivory in the U.S. Moreover, it is already a federal crime to import ivory into the U.S. and a crime to possess or sell illegally imported ivory.    

This outrageous and draconian bill also represents an unconstitutional "taking" of protected private property, violating both the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article 1, #1 and #20 of the N.J. Constitution. While lawsuits challenging this law, if signed, wend their way though the courts, untold hundreds or thousands of ivory owners will be arrested and prosecuted under this absurd law.

  NOTHING IN THIS ABSURD BILL WILL SAVE A SINGLE ELEPHANT!
This is "feel good - do bad" legislation at its worst! 

 WRITE or CALL the Governor TODAY and ask him to VETO S.2012/A.3128.

Email Governor Christie at: Constituent.Relations@gov.state.nj.us  

Call the Governor at: 609-292-6000

When you call or write, all you need to do is ask the Governor to VETO S.2012/A.3128, the ivory Ban Bill.  However, if you'd like to write more, use the appropriate model letter below:

NJ Residents:  click here for NJ Resident Ivory Ban Model Letter to Gov. Christie.

All Others: click here for Other State Residents Ivory Ban Model letter to Gov.....  

 On June 24th the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs held an Oversight Hearing on "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Plan to Implement a Ban on the Commercial Trade in Elephant Ivory." There were two panels of witnesses and the hearing lasted over two hours. The video of the hearing is now available at for viewing. 

Unlike previous Subcommittee hearings and Advisory Council meetings that were completely one-sided in advancing the the ban, this hearing was far more even-handed. Representatives of both sides of the debate were heard and many subcommittee members were well-prepared with facts and expressed skepticism about the ban.

Those supporting the ban offered no new information to support the ban. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Associate Director, Robert Dreher, was unable to answer a number of the most pointed questions. He could not provide any explanation for the reversal of the USFWS'  longstanding position on the legal sale of ivory in the U.S. not being a problem and that sale of legal ivory in the U.S. does not have any impact on the poaching problems in Africa.

They also repeated the factually incorrect numbers on poaching used to justify their ban, failing to note that existing efforts have resulted in a marked decrease in poaching in the past few years. While even one elephant poached is too many, it is disingenuous to both use illegitimate facts and not note that substantial progress is being made.

Two witnesses, including the Principal Ecologist of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management  Authority, Hilary Tendaupenyu, spoke about the successful conservation policies under the law before USFWS started unilaterally changing things and how the USFWS new arbitrary bans are already hurting efforts to stop poaching, not helping. Their bottom line was that this new policy will likely result in increased poaching, not less.

Overall, the hearing seemed to provide more support for those opposed to the USFWS actions than for those who favor it. This is encouraging as we await the expected USFWS final rule announcement that will detail how they intend to enforce the new rules and what accommodations they will make for antique and legal ivory that been in this country for decades. While we expect them to throw some small bones towards special interests who generally are Administration supporters, such as musicians, we still anticipate that the enforcement rules will prove impractical for most ivory owners.

We will continue to fight this irrational, ineffective and injurious ivory ban on behalf of our members and the elephants who need real protection from poachers, not feel good, worthless policy that could kill more elephants. 

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