Judge Strikes Down New Jersey’s AR-15 Ban

Good news, shooters living in the state of New Jersey: Thanks to a court ruling in July 2024, you can now legally own an AR-15. But alas, there’s a catch (ain’t there always?).

Legal talk @ TFB:

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The favorable ruling

Since 1990, New Jersey has had a state law banning so-called “assault firearms.” You can see a list of the dozens of banned firearms here. The recent court case, which included the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs and the Firearms Policy Coalition as plaintiffs, only saw the AR-15 un-banned. The rest of them are still on the list.

U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan did not seem to be happy with his removal of the AR-15 from the ban list but said that 2022’s Bruen ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court made it necessary.

You can read our previous coverage of Bruen here, but basically, it says that if a weapon is commonly used for self-defense, it’s much harder (perhaps impossible) for authorities to ban it.

Of course, the usual lineup of state-employed prosecutors, police officers and other apparatchiks condemned the ruling, and it’s impossible to predict the future as a result—but for now, if you’re in the Garden State, you can go buy an AR-15.

The unfavorable ruling

Unfortunately for New Jersey shooters, Judge Sheridan upheld another law that bans magazines of more than 10-round capacity. In his decision, he wrote that this law helps reduce the deadliness of a mass shooting:

“The lethality exerted upon the victims of a shooter armed with a magazine that can continue to shoot in a line of uninterrupted fire for a longer time period is lessened where that line of uninterrupted fire is reduced. A limitation on magazine capacity stops the rate at which victims can be injured. A limitation on magazine capacity allows for time during which a shooter may be intercepted, interrupted, or hopefully, stopped.”