Living in PA with LTCF, with the need to go a mile into NJ...

[Mr_Tom]

Ok, I dream a lot. I'm at work.

I dream of 100% reciprocity with all states.

Tom

[Pro2A]

I know the obvious and lawful answer to this question is: Just leave it at home. However, I'm curious enough to see if there is a legal way around this issue.

The other day as I was leaving work my wife called me and said "My dad is at the Trenton train station and needs a ride, can you go pick him up?". Without a second thought I said sure. Well, as I was going over the bridge I thought "Holy Crap! My pistol is in my gear bag sitting next to me in the passenger seat!". I figured the chances of me getting stopped were slim to none, however I did remove the pistol and extra mag and put them in my lockbox under my seat. I picked my FIL up post haste and hightailled it out of NJ.

Now I'm extremely conscious of what I have on me and the chances I may need to cross a bridge to the wastelands.

I'm curious though, if I were to have been pulled over or gotten in an accident, what rights would the police have to unlock a locked box in my car?

Similar thing happened to me in Maryland about a year ago. We were in Greencastle when my wife had the idea to go to Sam's Club in Hagerstown to get a few things. I forgot about my pistol in the console until we were in Maryland. I quickly unloaded it and stuck it in the trunk. We did our shopping quickly since we were already down there and made haste back to PA.

[JP720]

Yes, bullets in NJ are required to bounce off you.

Actually, I think even airguns and bb guns are similarly restricted in the PRNJ.

in nj bb and air guns are considered actual firearms and you have to go through the same process as buying a real gun, which means FID card and pistol permits.

[str8shooter]

OK, now you guys have me all freaked out. I drive my house on wheels through NJ on my way to the Adirondacks several times a year to go shooting with family. I always stop in NJ to fill up, because gas is about $.50 cheaper on the NJ side of the line than the NY and that's a significant savings when your dumping 50 gallons into a tank. I've known about the provisions for carrying firearms through NJ, but you're saying that a gas stop constitutes a destination and therefore I'd be committing a felony if I have HPs in the RV?

I'm going to be googling until I find case law that settles this issue one way or the other unless someone can point me to it. I have never been stopped in NJ, and the few times I've been pulled over in other states, it's been nothing more than DL, Reg, Ins. and have a nice day, but all it takes is one idiot (which could be me) to cause an accident that puts my shooting gear out in the open, so I need to be absolutely certain of the laws pertaining to incidental stops along the route.

[Siobhra]

I have to go into NJ once a month and I live in fear of so much as a loose bullet being found in the truck. I hope I have the money to fight but I doubt that it will be the case.
I have a friend in Maine that I plan to claim I am on the way to vacation with. That will put me as just passing thru.

[ErSwnn]

in nj bb and air guns are considered actual firearms and you have to go through the same process as buying a real gun, which means FID card and pistol permits.

BB guns...and slingshots. You heard that right, slingshots. Both are punishable by up to three years in prison. Someone in NJ actually thought it was a good idea to lock people up for slingshots. From what I remember the jist of it was anti-gang legislation and these items were included. Certainly I can understand negligent use or assault being harshly dealt with but mere possession in nj can get you jail time. If I were a resident of nj I'd be pretty pissed if my neighbor was locked up for target plinking in the Pine Barrens with a slingshot and some indigenous stones. Can't for the life of me understand why Jerseyians aren't highly agitated by their lawmakers wasting so much money on such a thing. Considering the gang and drug problems in such places as Camden and Trenton you'd think the priorities would be different. If nj would just crumble into the sea.....

[John Fox]

I live in NJ and agree with all of you except that hollow points are not illegal if going to a range to shoot. Following the rules in traveling with a gun locked separate from the ammo without any loaded magazine in the car is permissable. I go to PA to shoot and back home without any worries.
Can't move because of family ties and I'm 71.

[Exbiker]

I have done it many times. I`ll be down in the Easton area and run over to Charlie Browns in Alpha NJ for lunch. If I remember I separate the mag and weapon and store them in separate locations. Lot`s of guys shoot across the river at the Pistol Club. The mere possession of hollow points is not a felony.

"It is unlawful to knowingly possess “any hollow nose, dum-dum, or body armor penetrating bullet.” A person may keep such ammunition at his dwelling, premises, or other land owned or possessed by him, or carry such ammunition from the place of purchase to said dwelling or land."

[JP720]

I live in NJ and agree with all of you except that hollow points are not illegal if going to a range to shoot. Following the rules in traveling with a gun locked separate from the ammo without any loaded magazine in the car is permissable. I go to PA to shoot and back home without any worries.
Can't move because of family ties and I'm 71.

Provided certain conditions are met, a sportsman may transport and use hollow point ammunition. There are no restrictions preventing a sportsman from keeping such ammunition at his home.

N.J.S.A 2C:39-3f(1) limits the possession of hollow nose ammunition. However, there is a general exception that allows for the purchase of this ammunition but restricts the possession of it to specified locations. This exception provides that:

(2) Nothing is sub section f (1) shall be construed to prevent a person from keeping such ammunition at his dwelling, premises or other land owned or possessed by him, or from carrying such ammunition from the place of purchase to said dwelling or land . . . [N.J.S.A 26:39-3g (2)].

Thus a person may purchase this ammunition and keep it within the confines of his property. Sub section f (1) further exempts from the prohibited possession of hollow nose ammunition "persons engaged in activities pursuant to N.J.S.A 2C:39-6f. . . ."
N.J.S.A 26:39-3f. (1).

Activities contained in N.J.S.A 26:39-6f. can be broken down as follows:

1.A member of a rifle or pistol club organized under rules of the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and which filed its charter with the State Police;
2.A person engaged in hunting or target practice with a firearm legal for hunting in this State;
3.A person going directly to a target range, and;
4.A person going directly to an authorized place for "practice, match, target, trap or skeet shooting exhibitions."

As with other ammunition and firearms, a sportsman would have to comply with the provisions of N.J.S.A 2C:39-6f and g when transporting hollow nose ammunition to a target range. The ammunition should be stored in a closed and fastened container or locked in the trunk of the motor vehicle in which it is being transported. The course of travel should be as direct as possible when going to and leaving from the target range with "only such deviations as are reasonably necessary under the circumstances." N.J.S.A 2C:39-6g.

If the sportsman's club member plans to hunt with a rifle and use hollow nose ammunition in a state where this is permitted, he must comply with the provisions of U.S.C.A. 926A and N.J.S.A 2C:39-6(f) and (6)(g), which is consistent with the federal law, in transporting the firearm and ammunition. The firearm should be unloaded and neither the firearm nor the ammunition should be readily accessible from the passenger compartment. If the vehicle does not have a trunk, the firearm and the ammunition should be contained in a locked container other than the glove compartment or the console. 18 U.S.C.A. 926A.

In addition, the sportsman should have a valid hunting license in his possession from the state in which he plans to hunt and should be familiar with that state's gun laws. N.J.S.A 2C:39-6(f)(2) requires a person hunting in this State to have a valid hunting license in his possession while traveling to or from the hunting area. Hunting with hollow nose ammunition is permitted in New Jersey. In the case of a New Jersey resident traveling to another state to hunt, it logically would follow that the hunting license would be from the state where the hunter is going. Although the federal statute does not require possession of a hunting license, it does require that the person transporting the firearm be going to a state where possession of that object is lawful. A valid hunting license from that state effectively supplies the proof.

These conditions for use and transport of hollow nose ammunition are consistent with the legislative intent to restrict the use of such ammunition to a limited number of people. It is well established that in construing a statute exceptions are to be "strictly but reasonably construed, consistent with the manifest reason and purpose of the law." Service Armament Co. v. Hyland, 70 N.J. 550, 558-559 (1976). The State Supreme Court has "characterized the Gun Control Law as 'highly purposed and conscientiously designed toward preventing criminal and other unfit elements from acquiring firearms while enabling the fit elements of society to obtain them with minimal burdens.'" Id. at 559.

from the NJSP site




f.Dum-dum or body armor penetrating bullets. (1) Any person, other than a law enforcement officer or persons engaged in activities pursuant to subsection f. of N.J.S.2C:39-6, who knowingly has in his possession any hollow nose or dum-dum bullet, or (2) any person, other than a collector of firearms or ammunition as curios or relics as defined in Title 18, United States Code, section 921 (a) (13) and has in his possession a valid Collector of Curios and Relics License issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, who knowingly has in his possession any body armor breaching or penetrating ammunition, which means: (a) ammunition primarily designed for use in a handgun, and (b) which is comprised of a bullet whose core or jacket, if the jacket is thicker than.025 of an inch, is made of tungsten carbide, or hard bronze, or other material which is harder than a rating of 72 or greater on the Rockwell B. Hardness Scale, and (c) is therefore capable of breaching or penetrating body armor, is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. For purposes of this section, a collector may possess not more than three examples of each distinctive variation of the ammunition described above. A distinctive variation includes a different head stamp, composition, design, or color.

[kx90]

Oi.

So this morning my wife informs me that I MAY need to go pick up my dad-in-law (btw, he works in NYC/LI for the railroad, gets to ride the train for free). So of course I did the legal thing and put my carry pistol in the safe and am left unarmed now. I feel naked.