BubbaJ

For me, its both a matter of buying them to use, or just to collect or own. If its cheap, I'll buy it. I don't think I've ever paid more than $75 or so for any of my guns, and I'd venture to guess most were less than $25. I stopped at a yardsale a few weeks ago and bought two minty clean bolt action Marlin shotguns for $40, I'd venture to guess neither one has ever been fired before. I stopped at a fleamarket today and left with three more, two single shot shotguns and a bolt action .22, and I didn't break a hundred dollar bill. Plus I picked up two milk crates full of misc. shot gun actions, stocks, and two arm fulls of barrels for $20 at another table. I've been buying like this for 35 or so years. It don't take long to have several hundred or more. I tend to stock up this time of year to give me some winter projects to work on. I gain roughly 100 or so each year these days. I don't just by guns, I'm also always on the look out for tools, vintage audio and fishing gear. I haven't counted lately but I've got more than 1,500 fishing rods and twice as many reels. I have so many rods and reels that I had to build them their own addition on the garage about 12 years ago. I collect more than I use most things but I do so because I can.

I don't know about the op here but I've been buying rifles and shot guns now for 35 or so years, I don't think I've ever gone to the fleamarket or out yardsale huunting where I haven't come home with at least one more gun. I bought 5 last week at church bazaar here. (All for a good cause too!). The same goes for auctions, and I hit at least two every weekend. There's something about a shotgun or rifle under $50 that I just can't walk away from. Whether its for parts or fix up, or just some dead guys old gun, I can't see just walking past it. It don't take long to pile up hundreds of guns that way. (At last count, I've got over 300 single shot shotguns). No clue if they all work, but I doubt if I've got more than $25 in any one of them. The same goes for ammo, I won't even venture to guess how many 12ga shells I've got here. I bought 6 cases of old shells from the 80's a few weeks ago at Jake's for $5. If they work, fine, if not, I've got some nice casings to reload. I'd be willing to bet though they're all just fine. Those who have only lived in NJ with their screwed up laws don't understand how easy it should be to buy a gun. Personally, I only buy hunting rifles and shotguns, its all I'm interested in. I rarely target shoot, and when I do, its just to try out something I just bought to make sure its a viable gun for hunting should I decide to grab that one when I go. I'd venture to guess overall I've got well over a 1000 guns, possibly a lot more than that but not all are in ready to use condition. I'd venture to guess that more than half of them haven't been tested or fired by me and half of those again are likely just parts guns that I bought for a few bucks to have spare wood, spare barrels, etc. If a gun has a broken stock or if the barrel has been cut down it goes in the parts pile up in the loft in the barn. (Old tires stacked three high make good gun racks up there). With all this in mind, if I had to pull up roots and move full time to NJ, about 80% of what I've got would get parted out or dumped here. To me, they wouldn't be worth the effort to go about packing them up and moving them. I'd probably sort through the lot of parts guns and separate them in three piles, those that have potential to be fixed or restored, those that are just too far gone and will only donate a few bits and pieces, and those that are too obscure or odd to bother saving. Every once in a while when I know I likely have more than one of the same gun in that pile, I'll pull them out and see if I can make one out of several and shelve the rest. Broken, cut, rotted, or termite eaten stocks is the most common issue, after that its rust or pitting. About a year ago I went through everything up there and weeded out all the black powder guns and traded them away for a few rifles I can use. The loft has sort of become my own personal gun junkyard so to speak. I don't know if that would even fly in NJ, and I certainly couldn't have all that up there without worrying about some kid getting into it. Here, all I do is let the dogs sleep up there full time. So you can see its not hard to believe someone has 700 guns or more. I'd be leery if the guy was saying he had 700 fine collectibles but from what he's described, his lot of guns don't sound much different than mine. As to how many people I know with a huge lot of rifles and shotguns? Just about all my hunting buddies here, in fact, the guy who taught me to hunt a kid here makes me look like an amateur at best. Its hard to walk through his house without worrying about knocking over a stack of guns that are leaning against either the corner of the room, a piece of furniture, or just piled up on the couch. They're in the living room, hallways, kitchen, bedrooms, on the porch, in the breezeway, in the garage, in the sheds, stacked up and down the staircase, everywhere. So much so the floors are sagging from the weight. He's 82 and won't part with a single one, I've tried. The way I see it, if your going to be a hoarder, its better he's hoarding shotguns and rifles rather than old newspapers or cats. The way I see it, a hoard of guns like that is better off there than being sold off at some gun buyback in the city or left to rust away somewhere. The part that bothers me about his collection of guns is that he started it when guns were really cheap, he likely didn't pay but a buck or two of most of them.

I've owned more guns than i can count for most of my adult life, I buy everything used, and cheap or I leave it be. I've never heard of any sort of private FFL license that's available. Plus, the simple name, Curio and Relic lic. tells me its not meant for a guy who buys hunting rifles and shotguns from the modern era. To me, when someone says antique firearm, I think pre-1898 or any vintage firearm that can fire only black powder, weather it be a musket or early cartridge gun. None of which really interests me. For me, if I can't shoot something to eat with it, I don't have much interest in it. When I comes to self defense, in the home or elsewhere, if it'll kill a deer, elk, moose or bear, it's fine for self defense as well. If push came to shove, any firearm in hand is better than no firearm. I don't think any intruder would much care to be shot with even a .22 let alone a .30 cal rifle round. or shotgun. I'm also of the belief that what they don't know you have won't hurt you. If the day ever comes where they decide we can't have firearms anymore, I'd bet money on them knocking on the doors of those with FPID cards long before they visit those with no record of owning anything. Being a PA resident for most of my life, I don't know how I'd react to someone saying I can't have this or that or having to get some piece of paper saying I can buy a gun when I want one. I've hunted in NJ, I drive there with my gun in my truck, unloaded, and have done so every season for 40 or so years now. Never had an issue. I only hunt there because a lifelong buddy has a huge farm and I and four others all do our part to help keep his farm safe from deer each year. Between that and what I have here on my own property I keep my freezers well stocked. If there is a license that's obtainable by the average citizen that would allow easier interstate purchases, lets here about it. A quick search online didn't turn up much that seemed viable to me.

I live in PA, and have hunted in NJ and PA for 35 plus years, I never once had an issue carrying my guns in the trunk or in my truck in NJ. Never had any such card either. I've been stopped a few times, never once was a I asked what the gun was for, but I suppose the camo gear, duck blind, and decoys in the back pretty much were self explanatory. Being I've always driven an old single cab truck, my gun rides either in the gun rack or in its soft case leaning against the dash. I sure as shit ain't putting it in the bed to get all beat up. The ammo is in an ammo can on the floor. Never once did an officer ever even ask me to step out of the truck or ask to check my firearm there. I got more grief over things like dirty license plates, wide tires, or missing mudflaps. I have had them check a deer in the back for a tag and verify someone in the truck had a hunting license. I never buy ammo in Jersey, its too f'ing expensive there. I buy online or reload my own. Most places won't even sell shells without an ID now there. If they don't want my business, I'll just bring the ammo with me. Its bad enough what they charge for an out of state license these days. Its not like there's a glut of locals either, I rarely run into any local guys duck hunting there. The only guys I see are from DE or PA. Especially during the weekdays.

What is one supposed to do with a tube fed mag on a .22? Nearly every one I've seen holds more than 10 rounds? My 1965 Marlin model 60 holds 18, my Remington 121 holds 20. Other than my Ruger 10/22 with an M1 Carbine style stock can hold only 10 with a stock plastic mag. I still have the oem mags, they work the best compared to all the high cap mags but I can't take the M1 Carbine look alike to NJ anyhow. When it comes to my 30-06, I usually just shoot 125 to 150 grain fmj rounds for target shooting. but I rarely bring that one out due to the cost of ammo these days. What bothered me is that I remember reading where the NJ state police pulled some old man over with a small rifle in his car and charged him with transporting a firearm across state lines. Apparently the gun was his and he was returning from a trip to a PA gunsmith after a few repairs. it was unloaded and he had no ammo, the gun was in the back of his wagon or SUV in a gun case. I don't have anymore specifics but I was reading this while sitting in a doctor's office a few months ago in a magazine that was in the doctors office. I should have torn out the page or snapped a pic of the article but didn't think of it. It made me think about all the times we all crossed into NJ to shoot at the farm there. Most of the older guns have no serial numbers, there's no proof of ownership for a 50 year old rifle or shotgun, and I've never had a means to 'lock' a gun into a case in the car. My Bronco has a gun box in the back, its nothing but a false floor I built with room for about 7 rifles without cases or four or so in a case. With the back seat up, it looks like the floor of the truck until you drop the gate and see the raised floor and rear drop hatch on the box. I did it more to be able to get at my rifle or shotgun without unloading the whole truck while out hunting, and I can stop for eats without passerby's seeing I've got anything valuable in the back. There's a hidden latch on that compartment but no 'lock'. Over here, its rare that I don't have at least one shotgun and one rifle in the back. More than once I've found the need to put down a road hit deer that was suffering.

The place where we always shot was a bulldozer cut out in a hill, zero chance for an over shot or rebound and its at least 1500 ft from the nearest property and double that to any houses or buildings. No one has ever come running when we were shooting. The neighbors there do the same on their land, one guy has targets set up right behind his barn, he's got at least 40 steel plates and a few rows of 'can' racks were he can line up cans and bottles to shoot at. The do this because there's no local shooting range. Here in PA, I shoot in the back yard behind the house or back behind the barn. All shots are towards a huge wooded hill all on our fenced in and posted property. I doubt the neighbors care much or if they can even hear us shooting. I were out there till 10pm last night with my 30-06 shooting through two cases of old surplus ammo using two trucks to provide light down range. The only neighbor that knew were there out there was sitting behind us guarding the beer cooler. I've got four 10/22's, all have been converted to the wooden M1 Carbine style stocks, no markings on the gun have changed, just the stock and the addition of an over the top part of the stock and a new front band. I can't see why NJ would ban a weapon on its looks??? All three of my 10/22's were bought cheap with the bottom of the line composite stocks that didn't age well. I think it cost me about $90 per rifle to change over to the aftermarket M1 Carbine style stock. It in no way changed the gun in any way other than appearance. I still run the OEM 10 round magazines, I've got a few dozen of them. The higher cap mags were never reliable for me and they got tossed. A few of my most used 10 round mags crapped out too. After reading some of the horror stories here I think NJ is just a place to stay clear of, even for vacation, if I can't bring my guns to target shoot there or hunt without a ton of hassle, I'll go elsewhere. It looks to me like NJ is just trying to outlaw all the fun out of life, what's next, will they outlaw big tits and short skirts?

I'd likely never buy ammo in NJ, its way cheaper here in PA, with a lot less hassle. The intention is to keep my dad's old house so I have a closer house to the shore areas, and I suppose for sentimental reasons as well. My residence in PA will also stay, at least until I find something farther south. As I get older I like the cold months less and less but I also don' want to be stuck down south in the sweltering summer months. I did that for 9 years in south FL about 20 years ago and never again. I have to say that I'm shocked that they would ban an M1 Carbine over there, its not a very imposing weapon at all. I use mine here to shoot groundhogs in the garden from my third floor window. What about it put it on the list? Is my Ruger 10-22 ok in NJ? Its a model 21102, it looks just like an M1 Carbine, its got a 10 round magazine. Also, some of my .22 rifles hold as many as 17 rounds in the tube if I load shorts, would that gun be pkay in NJ?

Just an update, I've been busy dealing with all the paperwork and issues associated with two funerals but did get a chance to talk to someone at NJ fish and game, two persons at the NJ State Police, and several gun shops there. NJ will sell me an out of state hunting license but from what I can see I can't bring a gun??? I was also told that if I become a NJ resident, they can 'enforce' NJ gun laws if I make a purchase out of state. Meaning that if I buy ammo or a gun in PA that doesn't meet NJ regs, I"m in violation of NJ law, even if I never bring it here or leave at my house in PA??? I talked to a few dealers here and in NJ near where my dad's house is and it looks like shipping a rifle from NJ to PA would cost me $35 on each end plus shipping, so I could be looking at $100 per gun, that's not acceptable. I'd be looking at more than a thousand bucks to ship them all. I don't like just leaving them in NJ, the house will be empty most of the year. But I'm told I can't legally give them to a buddy there to store when I'm not there??? He's got a huge gun safe but doesn't have a hunting license or FID card in NJ, he had his own guns but they're all old and like mine were inherited. He only uses them on his own property. Does the same law apply if I were a NJ resident full time and wanted to shoot in PA or another state? Hunters can't possibly have to deal with shipping their rifles or shotguns to another state through an FFL just to go target shooting for the day? How about skeet competitions?

So I can't bring my gun to NJ to shoot at a private range, (AKA buddies back yard shooting range), and I can't use his guns? What sort of idiot made that rule? I don't hunt, I don't intend to anytime soon. After reading through all the hoops you have to jump through in NJ to get a license, Its not worth the hassle. I do know that my buddy hunts his own ground, he has the right to protect his crops from deer and other critters. The funny part is that on any given weekend, there's a 15 or so guys out there shooting, I'd venture to bet not a one owns their own gun, they just use what he's got in the shack down back. No one shoots there without him knowing who's out there, and rarely does anyone shoot there without him present. He's pretty strict with the rules there. I've been shooting there for 40 years. A number of years ago, I got pulled over, in NJ, with a shotgun in a pickup truck, the gun was a side by side 12ga. The gun was cracked open and unloaded, the ammo in a box in the glove box. The gun was and old Husqvarna from the early 20's.. The guy said he stopped me because I was going slow, he thought I might have been looking for deer. (I was driving an old worn out '65 Chevy C30 p/u with a 292 straight six, a three on the tree and a super low rear axle. The thing topped out at about 52 mph. After he looked the truck over, he asked to see the shotgun, I said sure, he then asked if he could fire it, I said, go for it. He went back to his car, grabbed a handful of shells and proceeded to blast a couple rounds into a no hunting sign on a tree. He asked if I wanted to sell it, I said no, its an heirloom , and he handed it back to me and said have a nice day. That was back in the mid 70's or so. I had FL tags on that truck and had just moved back to PA, but was headed home from shooting clays at my buddies farm. I guess things have changed.

The part that I don't get is that these are all long guns, why would NJ care if I was going to shoot at a public or private range? My buddy there has a huge chunk of land attached to his farm, its an area that forms sort of a valley with hills on three sides. Its perfect for target shooting. Only his family and a few friends shoot there. We've been doing so for decades. In PA, carrying the guns in the truck isn't a problem, I rarely go out without at least one shotgun in the back. My Bronco has a gun safe in the back, it will hold about 8 long guns if they're not in cases. I don't hunt, and have no intention of getting a hunting license, its not worth all the hassle but I don't see why they would forbid someone from just shooting targets on private property? Here in PA we can shoot anywhere just so its not near a house. Guns can be had without any special card or id. I was told by a local PD some time ago that carrying the guns in the trunk was fine, just so they go back with me or they don't 'change hands'. I don't see how a NJ hunting license would help if were shooting rifles, I didn't think you could hunt with a rifle in NJ? (Other than black powder). One of my favorite guns to shoot there is my .303 Enfield and my old Remington .22 pump. As far as hunting on his land, shooting either rats or other nuisance critters, I don't think there's a license for that. As far as I know he doesn't need a license to protect his crops either. He's been shooting deer there for decades in the fields, they even gather hunting parties to lessen the population on the property there. Other than the rats that they shoot, I don't suppose much goes to waste, a few of the guys even eat the ground hogs they shoot.

Hi, I'm a PA resident who shoots and hunts in NJ on private land. I've been reading this forum for a while now trying to understand NJ and its odd firearm laws. I have a family friend lets us help control pests on his farm, he's in a rural area of NJ and we shoot totally on private land. I regularly make the drive from PA to NJ with several of my shotguns and a small rifle in the trunk, so do many others. Am I breaking some law doing so? What's the difference between me coming to NJ to hunt or target shoot at a range there and returning home with my guns when I'm done vs. say giving one to a buddy to keep or store there? They do the same here, several buddies come up here to skeet shoot at a buddies place here, I can't say whether or not they have any NJ 'FID' cards or what ever you call it there, but as far as I know they're not breaking any laws here in PA. Long guns are pretty loosely looked after, especially if sold used between friends. There's no background checks or any reporting done when they change hands used. A new gun dealer has to run what we call a PICS check though, sort of PA's own version of the NICS check but done on the spot at the gun shop, no waiting. I also have four or more of my older shot guns at a buddies place in NJ, that way I don't have to haul so many every time I go and he can use them if needed as well. He's got more locker space there than I do here at home. I bought all of those at local flea markets or yard sales, so I'm not too concerned about them. they're functional but far from collectible. In my opinion, there's a fine line between which rifles and shot guns I consider mine or his these days. A few I just left there because I don't need them any more or because they got a bit rough shooting in the rain. I keep my good guns with me and carry them back and forth but I'm always buying something used just to try something new. If I like it, it gets fixed up and kept, if not, I often just leave it at his farm as sort of a back up or loaner there. We're not talking anything of any value, just $50 shot guns with glued and screwed stocks, rusty spots all over them and a handful of odd or mismatched parts just to keep them going. Most are older single shot shotguns. I also bring most of my ammo with me, I reload my own and buy some online here, I've tried to buy ammo over in NJ but most places won't sell to me since I don't have a NJ FID card. I don't think a NJ shooter would have any issues buying ammo to use here in PA though. One issue I did run into recently is when trying to buy several used guns at an auction in NJ, I was interested in four rifles, the auctioneer said I needed to have a FID card or I couldn't bid. I was going to have a buddy there bid and buy them instead but as a NJ resident they said he could only purchase two per month thus he couldn't bid on all four. I gave up and didn't bother either way. The whole mess wasn't worth the hassle. Only one of them were complete, the one that was likely was likely too gummed up and stiff to even fire yet they treated them as if they were dangerous weapons. Isn't it legal for a non resident in NJ to buy a gun at an auction? This was a private estate sale being held in northern NJ. As far as i know the guns went unsold at the sale since there were more guns in the collection than there were bidders with NJ FID cards. I think only 4 persons there had cards, and there were 31 guns up for auction that day. We're not talking assault weapons or new guns here, most of them were over 100 years old, which here in PA are exempt from any regulations as antiques. I can't count how many times here in PA I've walked out of a flea market with more than a half dozen or so old rifles or shotguns in various condition, and wasn't breaking any law in doing so. I too inherited a handful of 'family heirloom rifles and shotguns, they were all here in PA though and in the house I lived it at the time. They just became mine, no registration, nothing. What was grandpops, became my pops, when he pasted they became mine. I still use several of those guns and carry one of them to NJ when I go shooting. Its never been any thing more than just toss our guns in the trunk or back of the SUV and head to Jersey to Ben's farm for a day shooting varmints and/or a few targets he's got set up on the back side of a hill there. They don't expect us to have our guns transferred across state lines via an FFL every time we go shooting there do they?