TRENTON -- Facing a federal lawsuit from a Second Amendment rights group, Gov. Chris Christie's newly-installed Attorney General Christopher Porrino has conceded that New Jersey's ban on so-called "stun guns" is unconstitutional. He is also asking a federal judge for a meeting to settle the case and to be granted time to establish regulations governing purchase and ownership of the defensive weapons.

In a letter to federal judge Michael Shipp on Wednesday, Porrino wrote that the in light of a March U.S. Supreme Court decision, New Jersey now recognizes "that an outright ban on the possession of stun guns within a state, regardless of the contextual circumstances surrounding any such possession, would likely not pass constitutional muster." Porrino also asked for a conference to discuss settlement with the plaintiffs, the New Jersey Second Amendment Society, or NJ2AS.

"Stun guns" are so-called because they administer an electric shock by direct contact or by firing dart-like projectiles that administer the shock through the thin, flexible wires to which they're attached.

Police in New Jersey have carried them for years as a non-lethal means of protection. However, private citizens cannot because under state law, "any person who knowingly has in his possession any stun gun is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree."

In August, NJ2AS challenged the state's ban on stun guns in federal court, pointing to a March U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated Massachusetts' prohibition of the weapons.

In the letter to Shipp obtained by NJ Advance Media on Thursday, Porrino acknowledged the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and called for "time to issue reasonable regulations related to the possession, use, and sale of stun guns before such a settlement would effectively abrogate the State's current outright stun gun ban."

Any new regulations on the ownership and carriage of stun guns would be written by "the Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police under his authority to issue regulations governing both firearms and weapons," and not the Legislature, Porrino wrote.

In other states where the March Supreme Court ruling upended existing state stun gun bans, courts have granted only 180 days for police to issue new regulations on their ownership.

The capitulation by the state came as a source of great relief to Alexander Roubian, the executive director of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society.

"We have once again proven that New Jersey's draconian laws are unconstitutional and a violation of our natural rights to be able to protect ourselves," said Roubian, in a statement emailed to NJ Advance Media.

"We look forward to filing more lawsuits with our incredible legal team and challenge every aspect of New Jersey's laws which violate the Second Amendment."

Roubian said the attorney general's recognition of U.S. Supreme Court decision Caetano vs. Massachusetts was especially resonant in New Jersey because it involved a woman, Jaime Caetano, who'd faced a threat similar to the one that ended the life of Berlin Township woman, Carole Bowne.

In June 2015, Bowne, a petite blonde hairdresser, was murdered in her own driveway by an abusive ex-boyfriend against whom she'd already obtained a restraining order. On the night she was killed, Bowne was still awaiting a gun license she'd applied for two and a half months earlier.

In 2011, Jamie Caetano was confronted at night outside her workplace by an angry ex-boyfriend against whom she'd obtained multiple restraining orders. But instead of being attacked, she displayed her stun gun and announced, "I don't wanna have to [use the stun gun on] you, but if you don't leave me alone, I'm gonna have to." Her ex-boyfriend "got scared and he left [her] alone," according Associate Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s concurrence.

"Common sense should have prevailed after Carol Bowne was defenseless against her violent ex-boyfriend who knew that she would be defenseless and an easy target," said Roubian on Thursday.

"How many women need to die before the New Jersey legislators wake up and realize their current and proposed laws only create victim-hood. While tens of millions of women across America are protecting themselves, New Jersey is only assuring that they are defenseless prey."

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.