While the state Supreme Court mulls whether Jersey City can limit handgun purchases to one a month, gun control and gun rights advocates are speaking out.

But many question whether restricting legal gun sales curtail gun violence stemming from gangs.

“People can go to Pennsylvania or Virginia and buy guns like they’re buying candy,” said Althea Bernheim, aide to Councilman Steven Fulop (Ward E) and founder of Jersey City Family Initiative. “The permit process needs to become a federal issue,” she said.

She added that Ward E is not as bad as other areas of Jersey City, but gang violence continues.

New Jersey already has the toughest gun laws in the nation, but some legislators tried to make them even tougher.

The Assembly passed bill A339 to prohibit more than one handgun in a 30-day period, but the bill stalled in the Senate, with legislators fearing political suicide.

Frank Caso, owner of Jersey City-based Caso’s Gun-A-Rama, says he hopes that the court sees the city’s effort as just a political stunt. He added that Philadephia is dealing with the same issue of restricting gun purchases.

“They’re trying to control our sales of firearms and impede my business…people want to protect themselves. It’s not that they’re going to go out and start shooting people in the streets,” he said. “They just don’t want you to have firearms. And ACORN is backing it.”

Regarding gang violence, he said that preventing guns from getting into the wrong hands is “almost impossible” and an issue that federal agencies have long struggled with.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy and Police Chief Thomas Comey were unavailable for comment or statistics on gun permits in the city.

The Supreme Court may issue a decision within 30 days.