Category: New Jersey

SayUncle has the story.  No, in New Jersey there is no dramatic reenactment or entertainment exception, though I understand that’s been talked about.  New Jersey laws on guns (including air guns) is relatively simple: guns are illegal in New Jersey.  You can only own them and possess them under exceptions to the law.  One of those exceptions is a shooting range, and going directly too and from.  A theater is Atlantic City is not a shooting range, so it’s outside of that exception.  The only way to legally possess a .357 revolver in a theater in Atlantic City is to get a New Jersey License to Carry Firearms, which are not really issued to anyone who’s not well connected, and even the well connected can have a rough time.

Incidentally, New Jersey law can create problems for reenactors, because of the lack of exception for entertainment. Even a flintlock pistol in New Jersey is regulated in the same manner as a Glock.  Muzzleloaders are regulated in a lesser manner than modern rifles and shotguns, but New Jersey’s antique cannon laws alone are several pages.  The laws, taken as a whole, are so complicated even most lawyers don’t understand them, let alone police.  The complexity of it is part of the reason I won’t compete there, even though there are ranges that are still very active, and run good matches.

A retired police firearms instructor from New Jersey takes issue with Jimmy Carter’s position on so-called “Assault Weapons.” But I thought law enforcement all supported this?  Far be it for me to call my governor a liar.

Absecon is in South Jersey, in Atlantic County.  It’s not Republican like Cape May and Ocean County, but you don’t get as much anti-gun hysterics when you drop below Monmouth County.  New Jersey is largely anti-gun because it borders New York City.

Jersey City passed a gun rationing ordinance, and ANJRPC fought it in court and won.  It looks like the case is going before the New Jersey Supreme Court now.   As we detailed a few months ago, ACORN is heavily involved in this case.  The New Jersey court system has not always been friendly to gun issues.  The infamous case of New Jersey v. Pelleteri is instructive.  Pelleteri was charged with being in possession of a Marlin Model 60, with a 17 round tube fed magazine, which is defined as an “assault firearm” under New Jersey law.  His defense tried to argue that he was unaware the Marlin fell under New Jersey’s definition, and thus he did not knowingly possess an “assault firearm.”   The court concluded:

When dealing with guns, the citizen acts at his peril. In short, we view the statute as a regulatory measure in the interests of the public safety, premised on the thesis that one would hardly be surprised to learn that possession of such a highly dangerous offensive weapon is proscribed absent the requisite license.

That’s a .22LR plinking gun they are speaking of here, not an AK-47.  Oh, and the license they speak of?  They won’t issue it to you.  They are like carry licenses in New Jersey, in that they exist in theory, but not in practice.

I think about traveling to New Jersey to shoot sometimes, and then I remember all the case law I’ve read, and think better of it.  Sometimes it’s better, even if a bit riskier, to be ignorant.

UPDATE: This article about the oral arguments make it sound as though Jersey City made the argument that if the Court would allow them to break the state’s preemption laws, then it would be okay because other cities would follow in their tracks.

Jardim pushed for the court to keep the ordinance so that other towns and states might create similar laws.

“We hope that towns adopt it. We hope that the state adopts it. We hope that Pennsylvania adopts it. We hope that there’s a federal law for it,” said Jardim.