2ALC Files Brief in NJ's "Sensitive Places" Case

Late last week, the Second Amendment Law Center submitted a timely and compelling amicus curiae brief in the case of Koons v. Platkin, the lawsuit challenging New Jersey’s “sensitive places” law that makes a permit to carry a firearm in public invalid and useless throughout much of the state.

Second Amendment Law Center, Gun Owners of America, Inc., Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of California, The DC Project, Tennessee Firearms Association, Heller Foundation, and California Rifle & Pistol Association all worked together and joined as amici on the brief. Other groups that work with 2ALC, such as the Second Amendment Foundation, also filed amicus briefs.

“New Jersey politicians are among those openly hostile to the rights that the Second Amendment guarantees, particularly to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Bruen case,” remarked 2ALC President & Senior Legal Counsel Chuck Michel.”

The over-designation of areas as ”sensitive” where carry permits are invalid is a gambit being tried in multiple jurisdictions as a flanking maneuver to get around Bruen’s mandate. Similar laws have been passed in states such as Hawaii, and one is pending in California. But declaring an overwhelming range of places as “sensitive” was specifically called out and condemned in the Bruen decision by Justice Clarence Thomas.

2ALC is proud to support this effort, as we have done through amicus brief campaigns in Illinois, California, Delaware, Hawaii, and other jurisdictions - with more to come.

Sign up below to stay up to date on the latest in this case! And if you can, please contribute to help our ongoing eforts!

We’ve just recently launched our Founders Circle program, so a $75 donation will make you a part of the 2ALC Founder’s Team, and you’ll get a great gift collectible too!

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AMICUS BRIEFS DUE IN TWO WEEKS IN NJ'S "SENSITIVE PLACES" LAWSUIT

With the announcement that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed portions of New Jersey’s “sensitive places” law to remain partially in force while the case is appealed, the Second Amendment Law Center has launched an amicus brief campaign to support this case as it moves forward. Briefs are due in the next couple of weeks. The law creates gun free zones throughout the state even for those with a carry permit.

US District Court Judge Renée Marie Bumb had blocked much of the state’s sensitive places from taking effect, meaning that permit holders could still carry in areas where New Jersey law sought to prohibit them.

The 2-1 appeals court ruling kept in place the state law’s ban on carrying firearms within 100 feet of public gatherings, and at a range of other locations, including zoos, public parks and beaches, public transportation, entertainment venues, casinos, libraries, entertainment facilities, and anywhere alcohol is served.

Other parts of the law are still blocked. The law bans carrying guns in cars, on movie sets, or even any private property open to the public unless the owner posts a sign saying guns are allowed, but those provisions are still blocked - for now.  The ban on guns on private property open to the public unless a “Guns Allowed” sign is posted, could practically eliminate the right to carry even with a permit. Permit holders might be able to avoid parks and libraries, but can’t avoid private businesses open to the public.

“The Supreme Court in Bruen was crystal clear in prohibiting this ‘not here, not there, not anywhere’ approach,” noted 2ALC President and Senior Legal Counsel Chuck Michel. “States like New Jersey that are pushing forward with sweeping “sensitive places” laws are simply wasting their time, not to mention their taxpayers’ money, in an effort to get around the Supreme Court’s clear mandate.”

Amicus briefs play a critical role in legal challenges like this, providing legal research and historical perspective that help frame how a court views the issues under consideration. Attorneys for the parties in the case, however, are prohibited from coordinating the submission of such briefs. The Second Amendment Law Center, backed by our esteemed Board of Advisors, fills this role to ensure that key 2A legal challenges across the country are supported by the best possible legal research.

If laws like New Jersey’s are allowed to stand ANYWHERE, they will spread EVERYWHERE! We need your help to fund the amicus campaign and stop the madness in New Jersey!

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STONE DUMB NEW JERSEY POLITICIANS IMPOSE THE BIGGEST GUN BAN IN HISTORY AS THEY TRY TO BAN “GHOST GUNS”

In their breathless zeal to ban so-called “ghost guns,” the rocket scientists in the NJ legislature worded their law to make possession of any gun without a serial number affixed by a federally licensed gun manufacturer a crime. 

“Politicians and bureaucrats have shown their ignorance of firearm technology on my occasions in the past. But New Jersey’s latest action may just take the cake for the stupidest law ever,” remarked 2ALC President & Senior Legal Counsel Chuck Michel. “That is, assuming it wasn’t intentional.”

With this new law, NJ has just banned the following:

  •  Anything from before 1968, including antiques and historical firearms

  • Nearly all foreign-made firearms (the manufacturer likely won't have a US license)

  • All BB guns, pellet guns, and similar because they are defined as "firearms" by NJ law. But whether they are serialized or not, the manufacturer isn't qualified.

  • Many black powder guns, signal cannon, and the like.

This is complicated by NJ law defining unusually broad classifications of anything resembling aimable weapons as "firearms."

 Legal action is coming soon to stop this idiocy. 2ALC will be involved.

Read more from our friends at The Truth About Guns: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/breaking-new-jersey-has-enacted-the-largest-gun-ban-in-us-history/

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