TRENTON — A New Jersey court has upheld the conviction of a Texas man who was arrested in 2009 with 21 guns in his car.

Dustin Reininger, 40, told police he was moving from Maine to Texas after he was found sleeping behind a Wachovia Bank in Readington in 2009.

Reininger initially denied having guns in the car. But after noticing two firearms on the back seat, police searched the vehicle and found 14 rifles, four shotguns and three handguns, along with hollow-nose bullets and a high-capacity magazine.

A jury convicted Reininger on five counts and sentenced him to a minimum of three years in prison.

In a ruling made public today, an appeals court rejected Reininger's arguments including that New Jersey's gun laws violate the Second Amendment.

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