New Jersey recently made one million of its citizens criminals by banning common firearm ammunition magazines without any grandfathering provision, but plaintiffs challenging the statute on Second Amendment grounds also argue that it violates equal protection because it exempts retired law enforcement but not retired military – a feature noticed just as America prepares to celebrate the Fourth of July.
The new gun ban makes it illegal for the part of the firearm that contains the ammunition rounds, which is called a magazine, to contain more than ten rounds. Many common firearms are designed to carry more than ten, but possessing such devices is now a crime in the Garden State.
When most states pass such laws, they contain grandfathering provisions that ban future sales. New Jersey’s law instantly made all such owners criminals while giving them a short window to turn in their gun accessories before prosecutions could begin.
The flagship gun-rights organization in that state is the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC), which is the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association (NRA). ANJRPC’s executive director, Scott Bach, also serves on the NRA’s board of directors.
ANJRPC vigorously opposed this law, challenging it for violating the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, taking property without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment Taking Clause, and denying people in New Jersey the equal protection of the laws in violation of the Fourth Amendment Equal Protection Clause.
Lawyers representing ANJRPC are from Cooper & Kirk, a highly respected appellate and Supreme Court law firm led by Chuck Cooper, the former head of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, with the full backing and support of the NRA.
Their filings this week
