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Hope

Handgun laws in Jersey in 1990

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Dear forum,

I'm new here, so not sure if my question can be answered, or which forum it makes sense to post in. 

I have to research a specific situation: it's 1990. A young woman is driving on i-95 in Jersey and gets pulled over for speeding. The NJ State police officer discovers she has an old Beretta (1964) in her glove compartment, with one bullet in the magazine. She has no Permit to Carry and no license for it. She had inherited it from her mother, and used it for sport at a gun range. Now she is carrying it around because she is careless and also because she has an idea she could use it for self-defense. 

Does she get arrested? A summons to court? A fine and summons? 

I researched gun laws in NJ and just couldn't tell what the penalties might be.

Thank you,

Anna

Pietro_beretta_1964_corto_640.jpg

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Hello, Anna! First of all, welcome to the Forums. :girldance:

Would you care to introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about your background... what part of the state you're in... how familiar you are with firearms etc. Also, my curiosity has got the best of me ... may I ask, what exactly prompted this research topic?

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Welcome to the forum.

If this happened in 1990, then what actually happened is known, and probably of more use than the speculation from the forum members that is to follow.  :-)

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1 hour ago, Hope said:

Dear forum,

I'm new here, so not sure if my question can be answered, or which forum it makes sense to post in. 

I have to research a specific situation: it's 1990. A young woman is driving on i-95 in Jersey and gets pulled over for speeding. The NJ State police officer discovers she has an old Beretta (1964) in her glove compartment, with one bullet in the magazine. She has no Permit to Carry and no license for it. She had inherited it from her mother, and used it for sport at a gun range. Now she is carrying it around because she is careless and also because she has an idea she could use it for self-defense. 

Does she get arrested? A summons to court? A fine and summons? 

I researched gun laws in NJ and just couldn't tell what the penalties might be.

Thank you,

Anna

Pietro_beretta_1964_corto_640.jpg

To answer her question,  yes she gets arrested and could or will be charged with unlawful possession of a firearm subject to mandatory 3-5 yrs in jail via the Graves act.  She will also lose her beautiful Beretta and her firearms privilages for life anywhere in the US.

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Google "Lukey Shafer", a Texas truck driver who was involved in an accident in NJ in 1986 or 1987....and how our state police treated the injured son of a Texas Highway Patrolman over a bolt-action 20 gauge in his truck. Read about how others were treated by our state back then.

NJ gun laws have sucked for a long long time.

 

https://dspace.njstatelib.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10929/15623/w3621987v1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

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8 minutes ago, ChrisJM981 said:

I'm curious; what angle is the troll is playjng? 1990 was the NJ AWB. 

I think he, she or it wants to hear all our war stories about all the subversive ways we smuggle guns around the state.  

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On 6/7/2019 at 1:40 PM, Mrs. Peel said:

Hello, Anna! First of all, welcome to the Forums. :girldance:

Would you care to introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about your background... what part of the state you're in... how familiar you are with firearms etc. Also, my curiosity has got the best of me ... may I ask, what exactly prompted this research topic?

Hi, and thank you. 

I am writing a novel in which the protagonist, a 21-year-old college student from Northern NJ, is given a Beretta by her father after she is sexually assaulted. I need her character to be stopped on I-95 in Jersey by state police for speeding, then for the cop to spy the Beretta in the glove compartment when she reaches into it for her registration.

Backstory:  Her father wants her to have the handgun for self defense. At the point in the story where she gets pulled over for speeding, she has only use the Beretta at her local firing range. She has grown up going to the range for clay pigeon shooting, so is not averse to guns, and in fact carries this handgun in her backpack and her car's glove compartment. Her attachment to the gun is more sentimental than practical because it was her mother's before her mother died.

So -- I'm not a troll, I'm a writer trying to research. Thought folks might remember the atmosphere around people carrying handguns back in 1990, as it feels more polarized now? I think my protagonist will get in trouble for not having a permit to carry, even in 1990, and for not having her gun license on her. But not sure of the penalties. Any input is appreciated!

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10 minutes ago, Zeke said:

@Hope have you had the experience of shooting a firearm? And do you like porkroll egg and cheese sandwich’s?

@Hope I think what my fellow poster is trying to troll out of you is, Porkroll or Taylor Ham? The correct answer there could work wonders for your book info  

And your “Protagonist” would lose her gun rights nationally if convicted. Her punishment would depend on what it always depends on - how good a lawyer she has. 

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as I mentioned before....google Lukey Shafer; a truckdriver (who wasnt even driving at the time) who was involved in an accident......and the NJSP pulled him out of the hospital, ran him thru the wringer, then dumped him on their front doorstep without even shoes on his feet.

For a 20 gauge shotgun in the sleeper compartment

your protagonist will at minimum be spending the night in jail, facing hefty bail at the hearing the following court day, and hoping for a smart lawyer and a lenient judge to plead her charged down to something that keeps her out of jail.  The Beretta is gone and will not be returned; as are her gun rights....gone forever.  She now has a felony rap that will follow her for the rest of her life.

THAT is what would happen - in 1990 or 2019

 

 

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There are no permits issued to carry concealed in nj for the citizens, even back then.  Your character would be arrested and charged with a felony. The only difference between now and 1990 is I don’t think the mandatory 5 year sentence was in effect yet. But even back then you can only transport a handgun from your home and to a range, locked and unloaded in the trunk. No backpacks and no glove compartment. 

The next problem with your story is the dad cannot give the daughter a handgun in nj. She would have to apply for a purchase permit and could then take possession. If she didn’t then that is another felony to be charged with. That law I believe started in the 60’s in nj.  

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