Tuesday, June 29, 2010

New Jersey Gun Lawsuits On The Horizon

Link:

New Jersey’s extensive gun statutes may become ground zero in the coming litigation battles, said John Vincent Saykanic, a criminal defense attorney. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control group, ranked the state’s laws as the second strongest in the country after California’s.

New Jersey’s gun statutes require a person to obtain a police-issued permit for each handgun purchased. Permit applications also require a series of state and federal background checks, including fingerprinting. There are also limits on semi-automatic weapons.

Now, I believe that NJ is actually the perfect place for challenging a statewide AWB. The reason is that their AWB includes tube-fed rimfire weapons and there is no method for people in NJ to legally dispose of a banned weapon should they come to possess it. So if you find granddad's old .22 in the attic and even if you know it is an illegal assault weapon under state law, you are still a criminal if you try to turn it into the police.

For example, this rifle below is an illegal assault weapon in NJ.


That is a early 1950's J.C. Higgins .22 rifle that was sold in Sears and Roebuck stores. In all likelihood someone that reads this will have a parent that had one of these. In NJ, it is a Felony punishable by up to 4 years in prison to possess this rifle unless you registered it in the 1 year time frame after the AWB was passed.

That's right, the very rifle that many older readers may have carried to and from school on a regular basis, hunting rabbits and squirrels on the way home, back in the 1950's and 1960's is now an illegal assault weapon in NJ.

2 comments:

Lokidude said...

Ah, New Jersey. They can bite me, and the three "assault .22s" I'm currently in possession of. And all my hollowpoints, and full-capacity magazines for my 4043.

Anonymous said...

I think I speak for a number of NJ gun owners when I say that we are all holding our breath that the next stop after NC is NJ.

I can not legally own an M1 carbine!

NJ residents can own hollow points for use in their home.