2018 New Jersey Firearm Law Changes
This NJ State Firearm Law Report will update as the new laws are signed into effect.
BUMP STOCKS AND TRIGGER CRANKS ARE NOW ILLEGAL TO POSSESS IN NJ!
Prior to leaving office, former New Jersey governor Chis Christie signed senate bill S3477, which criminalized the possession of “bump stocks” and “trigger cranks” in New Jersey. The law applies to every single New Jersey citizen, regardless of whether they are a gun owner. The following changes to the New Jersey Criminal Code are effective as of January 15th, 2018:
- N.J.S.2C:39-1, or “Definitions,” was amended to include new language:
o A new subsection was added under the definition of “Assault firearm” to include “A firearm with a bump stock attached.”
o A bump stock is defined as “any device or instrument for a firearm that increases the rate of fire achievable with the firearm by using energy from the recoil of the firearm to generate a reciprocating action that facilitates repeated activation of the trigger.
o A trigger crank is defined as “any device or instrument to be attached to a firearm that repeatedly activates the trigger of the firearm through the use of a lever or other part that is turned in a circular motion; provided, however, the term shall not include any weapon initially designed and manufactured to fire through the use of a crank or lever.”
- N.J.S.2C:39-3, or “Prohibited Weapons and Devices,” was amended to include that any person who knowingly possesses a bump stock or trigger crank as defined above, regardless of whether the person is in possession of a firearm, is guilty of a crime of the third degree.
- N.J.S.2C:39-9, or “Manufacture, Transport, Disposition and Defacement,” was amended to include that any person who manufactures, causes to be manufactures, transports, ships, sells or disposes of a bump stock is guilty of a crime of the third degree.
WARNING: Though it is not specifically mentioned in the statute, N.J. citizens in possession of
“binary triggers” are still in potential legal danger.
“binary triggers” are still in potential legal danger.
The National Firearms Act defines “machine gun” as “any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.” New Jersey, however, defines a “machine gun” as “any firearm, mechanism or instrument not requiring that the trigger be pressed for each shot and having a reservoir, belt or other means of storing and carrying ammunition which can be loaded into the firearm, mechanism or instrument and fired therefrom.”
Each movement of a binary trigger is presently considered by the ATF to be a function, and therefore not a “machine gun”. However, a binary trigger does not have to be pressed for each shot, so it can still fall under New Jersey’s definition of a “machine gun” if installed in a firearm, or under the definition of “assault weapon”, as “a part or combination parts designed to convert a firearm into an assault firearm.”
Each movement of a binary trigger is presently considered by the ATF to be a function, and therefore not a “machine gun”. However, a binary trigger does not have to be pressed for each shot, so it can still fall under New Jersey’s definition of a “machine gun” if installed in a firearm, or under the definition of “assault weapon”, as “a part or combination parts designed to convert a firearm into an assault firearm.”