Is it illegal for my wife to use my gun.

[BCeagle 12]

Hypothectically, if I were away and my wife used my gun and killed an intruder, would she be charged. (Please assume she did everything right and had no choice.) Could I be charged for allowing her access. She is getting her permit but I assume she wont have it for months. I have been asked this a few times and I have no idea.

 

The other corrallary is if there are 2 guns and she grabs mine instead of hers, or takes mine to the range for target practice does it matter?

[Lublin 3]

Great question. I'm also interested.

[tinyboy 1]

this is a great question and will probably come down to the attorneys hashing it out when it happened

 

I am not an attorney, and I know things can happen, but I would tell my wife to go to court and stand trial if she shot an assailant that entered our home uninvited and attacked her or my children. I doubt a jury in this country would convict her. A legally registered gun? Self Defense? life threatened?

 

Sorry, but I still have faith in humanity. The right thing is the right thing

[BCeagle 12]

I believe in whats right and honesty and faith, but I have none in NJ and the left. You can't trust a jury to ignore the jury charges or the governor to grant celemency (fat chance.)

 

I would love a strongly worded Castle Doctrine which included this right for a spouse. Its funny my reading of the NJ law says we have no duty to retreat but I wouldnt trust that to a proscutor to decide.

 

If my wife was about to be killed/raped or was going to protect my little girls from the same, she has the right to use deadly force, but that doesnt automatically mean she has the right to use my handgun.

[GaTz 0]

I believe she Absolutely has the Right to use your weapons, as does anyone else you have legally in your home. The caveat for the law is that the weapon is lawfully in the home and/or business. Just like at the range. Anyone can use your weapons at the range, FID or not.

Same thing goes for the home. As long as the gun is legal to be there, it doesn't matter who pulls the trigger.

 

When I was applying for FID and PP in Woodbridge 2 years ago I asked if my wife needed to go get hers also and everyone there said unless she personally wants to go by guns and ammo, there's absolutely no need. I followed with the question of this topic to which they replied that aslong as the gun is legal, your friend could be the one stopping the intruder with no criminal legal ramification for using the weapon. As for a civil suit, i'm sure that's a different ballgame. That woud probably be an issue for me too, so it really doesn't matter.

[Karatenurse 11]

Before my wife got her FID and her own handgun, I made sure she was completely comfortable with my Glock 19. if she were home alone and she needed to protect herself, I would have no doubt in my mind that she could defend herself if the need came about. I see it no different than defending yourself with am improvised weapon if you were caught off guard in a street self defense situation.

 

The gun is leagal, its not taken outside the residence, and by all I have read here on the NJGF you do not need no special permit or FID to posses a gun in your home. To shoot an intruder in your home you would have to be in possesion of said gun.

 

What if intruder broke in and was armed, and you managed to wrestle away the gun, then he pulled a knife and came at you, and you shot him, thats when I would be worried, what if the gun was stolen. How do you prove you did not have the gun already>?

 

Too many legal questions.... but makes for good conversation.

Just have a good lawyer I guess.

[Malsua 1,422]

There is no mandatory registration of guns in NJ.

 

There are only permits to buy guns.

 

You are allowed to have a gun in your own home, no permit required.

 

You are allowed to take your gun to the range, no permit required. The range might want it, but that's not NJ law.

 

The law about having a gun without an FPID only applies outside of the exempted areas.

 

This does not mean police and prosecutors can't make your life miserable but if your wife is alone and needs to protect herself; perf the perp.

[NJChiroDoc 0]

I had this same question. When I asked the officer. I was told that as long is the gun is in the house anyone can use it to defend themselves if there are no other means. So I said she can use my guns and I can use hers? She said if you are going to transport them to the range just keep the pink slip with the gun so you can show who the owner is and that it is a leagal gun.

[tj462nj 32]

If she grabbed a kitchen knife a killed the intruder, does it matter who the knife belonged to? jersey laws are confusing. if 10 people read the same law, you would have 10 different interuptations of that law. My philospy is, I would kill the intruder, face my consuqeuences with a jury, not a mortician!

[tinyboy 1]

If she grabbed a kitchen knife a killed the intruder, does it matter who the knife belonged to? jersey laws are confusing. if 10 people read the same law, you would have 10 different interuptations of that law. My philospy is, I would kill the intruder, face my consuqeuences with a jury, not a mortician!

 

Just tell her not to use a Henry GPOS rifle when defending herself

[XDJohnTact 49]

Y'all have to move to a better neighborhood.

[BCeagle 12]

I moved here from Jersey City and there have been more burglaries on my block in suburbia in 5 years then 30 years in JC. Then again no one has gotten shot in the head around here.

[Ray Ray 3,566]

My wife would pull the trigger is she felt she had too. Even though the handguns are mine, she's going to use them if she has to.

 

How does the old saying go? "I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6."

[ianargent 7]

On the other hand - there are some fairly strict laws concerning transfer. I don't take my wife's gun to the range (though I kinda wish I had last time I wen tby myself - I don't get to fire it a lot) unless she's with me. Possession in her presence seems to be OK - once she leaves the room, have I just committed an unlawful transfer?

 

(Why did I choose to become a gun owner and stay in NJ again?)

[rscalzo 3]

2C:58-3.1. Temporary transfer of firearms

1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:39-9, N.J.S.2C:58-2, N.J.S.2C:58-3 or any other statute to the contrary concerning the transfer or disposition of firearms, the legal owner, or a dealer licensed under N.J.S.2C:58-2, may temporarily transfer a handgun, rifleor shotgun to another person who is 18 years of age or older, whether or not the person receiving the firearm holds a firearms purchaser identification card or a permit to carry a handgun. The person to whom a handgun, rifle or shotgun is temporarily transferred by the legal owner of the firearm or a licensed dealer may receive, possess, carry and use that handgun, rifle or shotgun, if the transfer is made upon a firing range operated by a licensed dealer, by a law enforcement agency, a legally recognized military organization or a rifle or pistol club which has filed a copy of its charter with the superintendent and annually submits to the superintendent a list of its members and if the firearm is received, possessed, carried and used for the sole purpose of target practice, trap or skeet shooting, or competition upon that firing range or instruction and training at any location.

 

A transfer under this subsection shall be for not more than eight consecutive hours in any 24-hour period and may be made for a set fee or an hourly charge.

 

The firearm shall be handled and used by the person to whom it is temporarily transferred only in the actual presence or under the direct supervision of the legal owner of the firearm, the dealer who transferred the firearm or any other person competent to supervise the handling and use of firearms and authorized to act for that purpose by the legal owner or licensed dealer. The legal owner of the firearm or the licensed dealer shall be on the premises or the property of the firing range during the entire time that the firearm is in the possession of the person to whom it is temporarily transferred.

 

The term "legal owner" as used in this subsection means a natural person and does not include an organization, commercial enterprise, or a licensed manufacturer, wholesaler or dealer of firearms.

 

b. Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:39-9, N.J.S.2C:58-2, N.J.S.2C:58-3 or any other statute to the contrary concerning the transfer and disposition of firearms, a legal owner of a shotgun or a rifle may temporarily transfer that firearm to another person who is 18 years of age or older, whether or not the person receiving the firearm holds a firearms purchaser identification card. The person to whom a shotgun or rifle is temporarily transferred by the legal owner may receive, possess, carry and use that shotgun or rifle in the woods or fields or upon the waters of this State for the purposes of hunting if the transfer is made in the woods or fields or upon the waters of this State, the shotgun or rifle is legal and appropriate for hunting and the person to whom the firearm is temporarily transferred possesses a valid license to hunt with a firearm, and a valid rifle permit if the firearm is a rifle, obtained in accordance with the provisions of chapter 3 of Title 23 of the Revised Statutes.

 

The transfer of a firearm under this subsection shall be for not more than eight consecutive hours in any 24-hour period and no fee shall be charged for the transfer.

 

The legal owner of the firearm which is temporarily transferred shall remain in the actual presence or in the vicinity of the person to whom it was transferred during the entire time that the firearm is in that person's possession.

 

The term "legal owner" as used in this subsection means a natural person and does not include an organization, commercial enterprise, or a licensed manufacturer, wholesaler or dealer of firearms.

 

c. No firearm shall be temporarily transferred or received under the provisions of subsections a. or b. of this section for the purposes described in section 1 of P.L.1983, c.229 (C.2C:39-14).

 

d. An owner or dealer shall not transfer a firearm to any person pursuant to the provisions of this section if the owner or dealer knows the person does not meet the qualifications set forth in subsection c. of N.J.S.2C:58-3 for obtaining or holding a firearms purchaser identification card or a handgun purchase permit. A person shall not receive, possess, carry or use a firearm pursuant to the provisions of this section if the person knows he does not meet the qualifications set forth in subsection c. of N.J.S.2C:58-3 for obtaining or holding a firearms purchaser identification card or a handgun purchase permit.

 

L.1992,c.74,s.1; amended 2000, c.145, s.4.

Last modified: March 31, 2009

 

As a husband/wife the firearm may be considered community property, thus being owned by both parties. But not being a lawyer that may need clarification.

[BadBul 0]

I think the phrase "I would rather be judged by 12 rather then carried by 6" comes to mind.

[ianargent 7]

Well, sure.

[ianargent 7]

As a husband/wife the firearm may be considered community property, thus being owned by both parties. But not being a lawyer that may need clarification.

 

 

NJ is not a community property state. So, no, I would not presume it is legal for me to "otherwise acquire" her handgun without complying with the law - either exhibiting a purchase permit, or using it under her supervision.

[Bioed 0]

I was told-I think at a First Steps class at Guns For Hire but I'm not sure-that I can let my wife or anyone else use my guns at a range provided I stay there with them but not anywhere else including my house. That's one of the reasons why my wife has her own guns bought with permits in her name. Given the legal climate in this state we want any act of self-defense to be as "clean" as possible

[rscalzo 3]

I'm not sure-that I can let my wife or anyone else use my guns at a range provided I stay there with them

 

That is spelled out quite clearly in the section of 2C I quoted. It is the only way an instructor could legally conduct a class. Of course while that person is in possession of the firearm, you would be considered responsible for their actions.