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So Tasers were recently ruled upon in NJ

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Note Stay in Effect for 6 months
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
VICINAGE OF TRENTON
________________________
NEW JERSEY SECOND : HON. MICHAEL A. SHIPP, U.S.D.J.
AMENDMENT SOCIETY and
MARK CHEESEMAN, : Civil Action No. 16-4906 (MAS-DEA)
Plaintiffs, :
v. :
CONSENT ORDER
CHRISTOPHER S. PORRINO :
in his Official Capacity
as Acting Attorney :
General of New Jersey,
and COLONEL RICK FUENTES :
in his Official Capacity
as Superintendent of the :
New Jersey State Police,
:
Defendants.
________________________ :
THIS COURT having received a verified complaint filed by
Plaintiffs New Jersey Second Amendment Society and Mark
Cheeseman (Docket Entry 1), an Answer filed by Defendants
(Docket Entry 18), a pending Motion for Judgment on the
Pleadings filed by Plaintiffs (Docket Entry 19), and a response
to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings adjourned by
Defendants, the Attorney General of New Jersey and the
Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police in their
respective official capacities; and
Case 3:16-cv-04906-MAS-DEA Document 28-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 1 of 6 PageID: 183
2
This Court finding that plaintiffs’ asserted claims in this
matter are whether, in light of the United States Supreme
Court’s recent decision in Caetano v. Massachusetts, ___ U.S.
___, 136 S. Ct. 1027, 194 L. Ed. 2d 99 (2016) (per curiam), they
have a right to possess a stun gun protected by the Second
Amendment to the United States Constitution, notwithstanding the
State of New Jersey’s prohibition of “stun guns” (defined as
“any weapon or other device which emits an electrical charge or
current intended to temporarily or permanently disable a
person”), by declaring that “[a]ny person who knowingly has in
his possession any stun is guilty of a crime of the fourth
degree,” N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-1(t); N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-
3(h); and
This Court finding that a separate New Jersey statute, N.J.
Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-9(d), among other things prohibits the sale
or shipment of “weapons,” which are statutorily defined as
including all “stun guns,” by declaring that any such person who
does so “is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree,” N.J. Stat.
Ann. § 2C:39-1®(4); and
This Court finding that New Jersey statutes define a “crime
of the fourth degree” as one imposing certain penalties
including imposition of a term of imprisonment of up to 18
Case 3:16-cv-04906-MAS-DEA Document 28-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 2 of 6 PageID: 184
3
months and a fine of up to $10,000.00, N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:43-
3(b)(2); N.J. Stat. Ann. § 43:3-6(g); and
This Court finding that plaintiffs’ prayer for relief in
their verified complaint includes, among other things, a request
for an order enjoining Defendants and their officers, agents,
servants, and employees from N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-3(h) to the
extent it bans the acquisition, possession, carrying or use of
“Tasers[®] and other electronic arms” (Docket Entry 1, Prayer
for Relief, § 1); and a request for an order declaring that N.J.
Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-3(h)is unconstitutional and violates the
Second Amendment to the United States Constitution (Docket Entry
1, Prayer for Relief, § 2); and an order declaring N.J. Stat.
Ann. § 2C:39-3(h)unenforceable (Docket Entry 1, Prayer for
Relief, § 3); and costs of suit, including attorneys’ fees and
costs pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988; and
Defendants having advised the Court that, they, in their
official capacities, and in light of the aforementioned recent
United States Supreme Court decision, recognize that an outright
ban on the possession of electronic arms within the state,
regardless of the contextual circumstances surrounding any such
possession, would likely not pass constitutional muster and
enter into this consent decree and do hereby concede that the
Case 3:16-cv-04906-MAS-DEA Document 28-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 3 of 6 PageID: 185
4
aforementioned statute banning electronic arms in New Jersey is
unconstitutional.
IT IS on this day of , 2017,
HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1. The Second Amendment guarantees individuals a
fundamental right to keep and bear arms for self-defense
District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008); McDonald v.
Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010); Caetano v. Massachusetts, 577 U.S.
__(2016). Further, “the Second Amendment extends, prima facie,
to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those
that were not in existence at the time of the founding.” Heller,
554 U.S. at 582; Caetano, slip op. at 1 (per curiam).
2. Pursuant to the holdings in Heller, McDonald and
Caetano, N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-3(h), to the extent this
statute outright prohibits, under criminal penalty, individuals
from possessing electronic arms, is declared unconstitutional
in that it violates the Second Amendment to the United States
Constitution and shall not be enforced.
2. N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-9(d)shall not be enforced to
the extent this statute prohibits, under criminal penalty, the
sale or shipment of Tasers® or other electronic arms; and
3. For good cause shown, any and all further proceedings
in this matter, are hereby stayed for a period of 180 days until
Case 3:16-cv-04906-MAS-DEA Document 28-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 4 of 6 PageID: 186
5
such time that any necessary revisions to existing controlling
legal authorities may be implemented; and
4. Plaintiffs are prevailing parties for purposes of an
award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of suit pursuant
to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, and within 30 days after the date of this
Order, the parties will either come to an amicable resolution as
to the amount of attorneys’ fees and costs, or the Plaintiff
shall make application to the Court for resolution; and
5. Nothing in this order shall constitute an admission of
liability, duty, or wrongdoing by any party or an admission that
any other statute, law, or any policy, practice, or procedure of
the State of New Jersey, its officers, officials, employees,
agents, or servants, at any time or in any way violated federal
or any other law; and
6. No other law, including but not limited to the
remainder of N.J. Stat. Ann. 2C:39-1 et seq., shall be affected
by the entry of this Order.
7. The effect of this Order shall be fully stayed for 180
days to allow the State of New Jersey to institute new laws,
rules, or regulations “that will impose reasonable limitations,
consistent with public safety and the Second Amendment,” on the
possession and/or carrying of electronic arms or “stun guns.”
Cf. Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d 933, 942 (7th Cir. 2012).
Case 3:16-cv-04906-MAS-DEA Document 28-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 5 of 6 PageID: 187
6
______________________________
HON. MICHAEL A. SHIPP
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated:
Case 3:16-cv-04906-MAS-DEA Document 28-1 Filed 04/11/17 Page 6 of 6 PageID: 188

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The effect of this Order shall be fully stayed for 180

days to allow the State of New Jersey to institute new laws,
rules, or regulations “that will impose reasonable limitations,
consistent with public safety and the Second Amendment,” on the
possession and/or carrying of electronic arms or “stun guns.”

 

So they have 180 days to try to take away the rights again.

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Page 4 leaves me thinking there are 2 possibilities.

1) The state seems to have conceded that 2A exists and applies to "all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those

that were not in existence at the time of the founding" and it should be a no-brainer to use this to overturn justifiable need.

2) You will need to show justifiable need to obtain a stun gun permit.

It could go either way...

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