Judge Temporarily Blocks New Jersey Gun Law Limiting Guns in Public

A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) for a New Jersey law, which would limit licensed handgun owners from carrying outside the home, and criminalizes carry in a vastly expanded set of public places deemed “sensitive areas.”

Put simply, the law would prohibit licensed handgun owners from carrying their handguns in nightclubs, theaters, arenas, racetracks, museums, and other places. For those who understand the Second Amendment, it would appear that this law directly infringes upon that right.

According to Judge Renee Marie Bumb, who issued the TRO this week, “The Court finds that the challenged provisions have chilled Plaintiffs’ reasonable exercise of their Second Amendment right.”

She also surmised that six restrictions within the legislation, which was adopted three weeks ago, were “so extensive and burdensome” that they left the right to “armed self-defense in public a nullity.”

If you’re not bothered by the idea of armed self-defense in public being a nullity, you should be. The First and Second Amendments have a contingent relationship—without one, the other would fall.

SEE ALSO: New Jersey Governor Signs Massive Legislation to Restrict Carry Rights

So where is the line between protected rights and forced regulation of conduct?

“The State may regulate conduct squarely protected by the Second Amendment only if supported by a historical tradition of firearm regulation,” Judge Bumb said.

In June I vowed to take action after the Supreme Court eliminated commonsense restrictions on who can carry guns in public.

Today, I signed a law to protect the welfare of all who proudly call our state home by keeping guns out of places where they simply don’t belong. pic.twitter.com/xSlXBKLTfd

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 22, 2022

“Here, Plaintiffs have shown that Defendants will not be able to demonstrate a history of firearm regulation to support any of the challenged provisions,” Judge Bumb continued. “The deprivation of Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights, as the holders of valid permits from the State to conceal carry handguns, constitutes irreparable injury, and neither the State nor the public has an interest in enforcing unconstitutional laws.”

The Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs filed a different suit on December 22, 2022, the same day the new gun law in New Jersey was signed. It argues that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association vs Bruen from the summer of 2022 “guarantees the right of the people to carry handguns in public for self-defense” and that the “state of New Jersey has, apparently, not gotten the message.”

SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb agreed with Judge Bumb.

“This is another example of the important precedent found in language in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen ruling last June.” Gottlieb said. “Clearly, New Jersey lawmakers have gone too far in crafting a law to get around the high court’s decision.”

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