(CN) — A trio of gun rights groups are taking aim at New Jersey for its firearm permitting regime, which they claim is “onerous, unconstitutional and ahistorical.”
In a lawsuit filed late Tuesday night in New Jersey federal court, Coalition of New Jersey Firearm Owners, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation and private citizen Christian Benton — a New Jersey resident who claims he’s still waiting on his permits after the 30-day issuing period — joined forces in an effort to upend the state’s gun permit process.
“New Jersey does not allow a person to so much as purchase a firearm without receipt of a government permission slip,” the groups claim in their 35-page suit.
The gun groups target the hoops Garden Staters must jump through in order to get a permit to buy a handgun, including providing character references, getting fingerprinted, paying several fees and undergoing background checks.
“Making matters worse, some New Jersey authorities do not issue these permits timely, further delaying (and thereby infringing) the applicant’s Second Amendment rights,” the plaintiffs claim. “And, once issued, this permit only allows the applicant to purchase a single handgun, and generally expires 90 days after issuance.”
During this “lengthy and arduous” permitting process, the groups assert that state residents are “naturally unable to ‘keep … arms’” as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.
Even if a prospective gun owner submits multiple permits, they add, New Jersey’s unique provision that restricts handgun purchases to one per month is further a violation of their Second Amendment rights.
“This ‘one gun a month’ limitation on the exercise of an enumerated right lacks any historical tradition, infringes on New Jerseyans’ Second Amendment rights, and is an outlier among the states, as in the vast majority of states, there is no quantity limit on how many firearms ‘the people’ can purchase per month,” the plaintiffs claim.
The suit names two defendants: New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and Phil Olivo, the police chief of Pennsauken Township who is responsible for reviewing and issuing Benton’s handgun permits — two of which Benton claims have gone unissued well past their deadlines.
“Benton applied for another permit to purchase a handgun on June 10, 2024,” the plaintiffs claim. “The time allowed per the statute to issue this permit has not yet expired. But, given the fact that Chief Olivo takes well over the 30 days allowed by the statute, Benton does not expect to receive this permit to purchase timely.”
The pro-gun plaintiffs are seeking an order that declares New Jersey’s permitting process unconstitutional, including its “one gun a month” law. They’re also looking to permanently enjoin the defendants from “unlawfully delaying” the exercise of Garden Staters’ Second Amendment rights.
Steven Harfenist of the Long Island-based Harfenist, Kraut & Perlstein represents the plaintiffs.
In a Tuesday statement accompanying the lawsuit, Gun Owners of America senior vice president Erich Pratt chided New Jersey’s “extensive and onerous” permitting process and claimed that the state is “the worst of the worst” when it comes to gun control.
“We’re very optimistic that this case will eventually be the means by which we finally dismantle New Jersey’s unconstitutional permitting policies and liberate their citizens from their anti-gun tyranny,” Pratt added.
Gun Owners Foundation board member Sam Paredes called New Jersey officials “tyrants” in a statement of his own.
He also referenced the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, which expanded the right to wield handguns outside in public.
“Governor Murphy and AG Platkin have repeatedly and insubordinately bemoaned the Second Amendment and federal court rulings that overturned gun control for years now, and we are excited to finally be confronting these tyrants head on,” Paredes said on behalf of the board. “As we’ve been telling policymakers since the Bruen decision, fall in line, or we will make you.”
The Supreme Court has already had an eventful summer when it comes to gun rights. Last week, the court controversially shot down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks — an add-on device that allows a semiautomatic firearm to fire several hundred rounds per minute.