Scott L. Bach

Scott Bach (Board Member)

Scott Bach - NRA Board Member
President and executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs

Scott Bach is the president of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs. He decided to buy his first handgun "in the 1980's, after an unprovoked assault on a wooded New Jersey trail by a drunken motorist." In Bach's words, "Every private citizen who has ever faced a violent criminal alone, and knows the feeling of an impending, untimely death at the hands of a merciless savage, understands the importance of being able to own and carry a firearm" "When predators can’t tell the difference between the wolves and the sheep, the whole flock is safer," says Bach. He became involved in the gun rights movement “after a profoundly painful breakup of an extremely serious relationship with a woman who flat out refused to accept [his] interest in freedom, firearms, and the Second Amendment.”

Photo by Buck Ennis

Controversial Actions and Statements

Controversial Actions and Statements:

Scott Bach (Board Member)

In a July 3 interview with Adam Toxin, the interim communications manager of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFPO), Bach asked, “Are we trending towards more individual freedom, which, of course this country was founded on, or less?” Referring to a recent Supreme Court decision upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, he answered, “And what I see, and which is, um, echoed and amplified by the recent, um, health care decision is, my conclusion is it’s less … The Obamacare decision is, to me, it’s the final nail in the coffin … It is the ultimate attack on the Republic. The last vestige of freedom that’s left.” Toxin, referring to the King of Britain at the time of the Revolution, stated, “King George wasn’t anywhere near this tyrannical. The Stamp Act was nothing like Obamacare.” Bach replied, “I agree with that … This is a…case of public officials who have an agenda, who have exceeded their mandate, who have violated their trust and Constitution and the principles on which the country was founded … You know what? The system is not self-enforcing. It requires human beings with the will to preserve it and somewhere along the line, um, those with the will to destroy it have taken over the majority.” Turning to the topic of civilian militias, Bach stated, “Let me substitute the word ‘militia’ for ‘armed populace.’ You know, ironically, and JPFO members know this, Hitler was pro-gun control. Ironically, Mahatma Gandhi understood the need for a people to be armed … He understands the importance of being armed, not necessarily using arms, but having them as a check.” Finally, he made reference to the November 2012 elections and warned, “It is the most important elections, presidential and congressional, of our lives.”

Republican Party (GOP) | Health Care | Political Violence

Scott Bach (Board Member)

In a January 4, 2024 interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bach commented on an anti-trafficking bill that sought to limit civilians' handgun purchases to one per month, saying "This legislation makes it a crime to exercise a constitutional right to obtain handguns any more often than Big Brother dictates. It's overkill in the extreme." The legislation was signed into law by then-Governor Jon Corzine on August 6, 2009.

Scott Bach (Board Member)

Commenting on an anti-trafficking bill that sought to limit New Jersey residents' handgun purchases to one per month, Bach asked the New York Times, "Can you imagine a golfer having only one club?" The legislation was signed into law by then-Governor Jon Corzine on August 6, 2009.

Scott Bach (Board Member)

In a June 30, 2023 editorial in the Star-Ledger, Bach wrote, “The Constitution exists to limit government power over individuals, not the other way around.” In truth, those who drafted and ratified our Constitution did believe that a stronger federal government was necessary in order to preserve the Union. As Alexander Hamilton asked the Constitution's critics in Federalist No. 30: "How is it possible that a government half supplied and always necessitous, can fulfill the purposes of its institution—can provide for the security of—advance the prosperity—or support the reputation of the commonwealth? How can it ever possess either energy or stability, dignity or credit, confidence at home or respectability abroad? How can its administration be any thing else than a succession of expedients temporising, impotent, disgraceful? How will it be able to avoid a frequent sacrifice of its engagements to immediate necessity? How can it undertake or execute any liberal or enlarged plans of public good?”

Scott Bach (Board Member)

In June 2008, Bach testified before the New Jersey State Assembly Judiciary Committee on A2116, a bill that sought to ban private ownership of firearms of .50 caliber or greater, like the Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle, a weapon that can take out armored targets up to a mile away. Nonetheless, Bach claimed that the effect of the legislation would be to be prohibit New Jersey residents from possessing “popular rifles used by sportsmen,” “flintlocks and muskets,” and “family heirlooms.” Addressing the members of the committee directly, Bach then told them, “At this point, it's hard not to conclude that a sweeping gun ban is precisely what you intend.”

Conspiracy Theory |

Scott Bach (Board Member)

In an editorial regarding S2431, a state bill that sought to increase criminal penalties for unlawful possession of a handgun, Bach accused New Jersey legislators of “knowingly and intentionally opting to pass legislation that will send law abiding citizens to jail.”

Conspiracy Theory |

Scott Bach (Board Member)

In an October 10, 2023 editorial in the Star-Ledger, Bach addressed New Jersey state legislation that sought to ban private ownership of firearms of .50 caliber or greater, like the Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle, a weapon that can take out armored targets up to a mile away. Claiming that the legislation would ban “hundreds of common hunting and historical firearms, including the flintlocks and muskets that won the American Revolution and the Civil War,” Bach mocked the legislation as “a clear solution to the urban problem of drive-by musketeering, no doubt...

Conspiracy Theory |

Scott Bach (Board Member)

Bach called the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (now known as the Animal Protection League of New Jersey) an “extremist group“ in a 2003 opinion piece due to its opposition to recreational bear hunting in New Jersey. Bach claimed that the bear hunts were necessary due to the danger to posed to humans. A spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, however, called aggressive bear attacks in the state “infrequent.” Bach also blamed animal rights activists for unsolved vandalism of State Fish & Wildlife vehicles.

Animal Rights

Scott Bach (Board Member)

In an unpublished editorial entitled “2002 Elections May Signal National Conservative Trend,” Bach discussed the findings of a panel at an event sponsored by the Center for the Study of Popular Culture. He quoted one panelist, the leader of a “tax reform organization,” who described “six demographic trends among likely [future] voters that indicate a general movement toward conservatism ... A growing investor class, a growing class of conservative youth, declining union membership, increased gun ownership and concealed carry permitting, increased home schooling, and a decrease in the number of government workers.” Making reference to his home state of New Jersey, Bach then concluded: “In parts of New Jersey, the 2002 elections held out signs of the start of conservative trending as well. The strong victory of [Republican] Congressman Scott Garrett over [Democrat] Anne Summers in the 5th Congressional District race—particularly in traditionally liberal Bergen County—shook up the liberal establishment throughout the state. If that trend continues, [Democratic New Jersey Senator Frank] Lautenberg and many others like him may indeed have something to fear come election days of the future.”

In 2003, the Southern Poverty Law Center identified the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (now the David Horowitz Freedom Center) as a "hard right" organization that has “helped spread bigoted ideas into American life.”

Labor

Scott Bach (Board Member)

Bach embraced an insurrectionist interpretation of the Second Amendment in an undated, unpublished editorial, writing: “Collective firearms ownership by a population is an insurance policy against government oppression and extreme abuses of power. If you don't think that governments oppress and commit atrocities against their own people, think again. During the 20th century, while Americans were building cars, factories, and shopping malls, at least seven major genocides occurred throughout the world, in which more than 50 million people were exterminated by their own governments (Germany, USSR, Communist China, Cambodia, Uganda, Guatemala, and the Ottoman Empire). Each of these state-run atrocities was preceded by ‘common sense’ gun control, registration, and eventual confiscation by the government, all under the pretext of advancing public safety.”

In contrast, the author of the Second Amendment, James Madison, made it clear in his writings that advancing public safety is one of the highest priorities of government. He also made it clear that any armed opposition to the federal government would only be legitimate if conducted under the authority of state governments. In Federalist No. 46, Madison chastened fears of potential tyranny in the federal government, saying such a government would be opposed by "a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties, and united and conducted by [state] governments possessing their affections and confidence." Furthermore, the U.S. Constitution (in Article 1, Section 8) states that one of the purposes of the state Militia is to "suppress Insurrections," not to foment them.

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