imported post
Well, NJ is pretty much entirely a gun free zone unless you are a LEO or a criminal. Just to get a NJ firearm owner's ID to have a handgun in the home is more intrusive and onerous than obtaining a CCW in the toughest shall issue states based on the requirements a friend of mine sent me who is currently going through that process. Makes IL look pro-gun in comparison.
The mall shooting in WA, while a public shooting, wasn't a shooting intended towards the public. It was between punk gang-bangers who's parents failed them and society. Citizen carry wasn't going to stop it or prevent it. I don't see how an armed citizen would have been able to jump into that situation, stopped or prevented it and not been guilty of some crime themselves.