Opinion

Over one million New Jersey Gun owners defy Governor Murphy's gun magazine ban & turn in demands of what some estimate is easily more than ten million now illegal standard capacity gun mags.

New Jersey –-(Ammoland.com)- New Jersey's standard capacity magazine ban is now in effect making New Jersey's one million gun owners criminals in the eyes of the state. But in an act of mass definace, New Jersey residents refuse to comply.

Any magazine holding more than ten rounds is now illegal in the Garden State. The standard magazine for an AR-15 holds 30 rounds. Glock 19s, which is the most popular pistol in the United States, holds 15 rounds. Anyone who is possession of larger magazine is committing a fourth-degree felony.

Anyone caught with one of the now banned magazines in their possession faces up to 18 months in prison and up to $10,000 in fines or both for each magazine found.

The bill was signed into law last June by Gov. Phil Murphy (D). Residents had until December 11th, 2018, to turn over magazines to police or sell or store them out of state.

Pro-gun groups sued New Jersey to try to prevent the law from going into effect. Their attempt on blocking the law failed in a federal appeals court. The three-judge panel ruled that a law limiting the number of rounds a magazine holds did not violate the US Constitution and did not put an undue burden on New Jersey gun owners.

“New Jersey’s law reasonably fits the State’s interest in public safety and does not unconstitutionally burden the Second Amendment’s right to self-defense in the home,” the court wrote in their decision. “The law also does not violate the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause because it does not require gun owners to surrender their magazines but instead allows them to retain modified magazines or register firearms that have magazines that cannot be modified.” AG Gurbir Grewal applauded the ruling on Twitter stating: “This just in: for months, individuals have been challenging NJ’s limits on large capacity magazines—a sensible law to address mass shootings. Today, the court of appeals upheld the law. Big win for public safety and law enforcement safety!”

Residents of New Jersey on various message boards have called the magazine ban unenforceable. Some were going as far as laughing at Gov. Murphy and his attempt at regulating magazine size.

New Jersey is not saying how they plan to enforce the ban on standard capacity magazines. Gov. Murphy's office referred AmmoLand to the New Jersey Attorney General's office. The AG's office refused to comment.

Sharon Lauchaire, Director of Communications for the Office the Attorney General told AmmoLand: “We do not discuss law enforcement strategies.”

AmmoLand's sources within the New Jersey State Police that spoke on a condition of anonymity stated that they had not received any guidance on how to enforce the ban from the AG’s office. They said that there is currently no plan to investigate gun owners suspected of having the now banned magazines.

According to the source, the plan that has been discussed among officers is only to file charges against people who are guilty of other crimes. This plan might change once superiors give guidance on how to enforce the ban.

AmmoLand reached out to several local police departments in New Jersey to see how they plan on enforcing the ban and what the turn in numbers have been? Much like the New Jersey State Police, none of these departments have a concrete plan on how to proactively enforce the ban and none had a single report of magazines turned over.

From all Reports, NO Mags Turned In, Governor Murphy & His Law are Joke

AmmoLand also asked the Governor's office what Gov. Murphy thinks of users on the internet saying that the ban is unenforceable and laughing at the Governor's attempt at regulating magazine sizes.

Gov. Murphy and his office refused to comment on these gun owner's opinions.

AmmoLand also asked Gov. Murphy's office about the number of magazines turned in by New Jersey residents. Once again AmmoLand was referred to the New Jersey Attorney General's office.

In this case, Lauchaire would not offer a comment and referred AmmoLand to the New Jersey State Police. Lauchaire stated she was aware of AmmoLand's previous inquire to the State Police on the number of magazines turned in meaning that State Police contacted the AG’s office about our request for information.

The New Jersey State Police have not officially responded to our request on the number of magazines that were turned over by citizens.

Two sources from within the State Police, who spoke to AmmoLand on condition of anonymity, told AmmoLand News that they both do not know of any magazines turned over to their agency and doubted that any were turned in. They also stated that the State Police also engaged the AG's office for guidance on how to respond to inquiries such as ours. They were unaware if the Attorney General has returned to their request for guidance.

All the local police departments that AmmoLand contacted stated that they have not had any magazines turned into them.

AmmoLand has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with The New Jersey State Police to get an official count of the number of magazines turned in by New Jersey citizens. We will update the story if our FOIA request is fulfilled.

About John Crump

John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%'ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.