NJ A4977

Expands the pretrial Public Safety Assessment (PSA) risk factors to require consideration of any charge, conviction, or adjudication involving the use or possession of a firearm when evaluating a defendant's flight risk and danger to the community

Broadens the "no release" recommendation requirement from pretrial services to apply to defendants charged with any crime involving firearms, removing previous exceptions for specific weapons offenses

Responds to findings from the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation's September 2024 report on illegal firearms, which highlighted concerns about ghost guns and gun conversion devices that turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns

Aims to address the SCI finding that current PSA calculations fail to adequately reflect the dangerousness of firearms, particularly for offenses like reckless public discharge of a firearm

Takes effect immediately upon enactment and urges the Judiciary to reassess PSA risk factors to more comprehensively account for firearm-related dangers