A very interesting unpublished decision was announced by the New Jersey Appellate Division on March 30^th on the issue of transportation of guns and ammunition within New Jersey

 

In State of New Jersey v. Aitken (A-0467-10T4)(March 30, 2012), the defendant had been convicted of the illegal possession of three unlicensed pistols, possession of a large capacity ammunition magazine, and possession of hollow point bullets. The decision can be found at http://www.judiciary...ns/a0467-10.pdf. In this opinion, the Appellate Court reversed the convictions on the gun and magazine possession charges but affirmed the conviction for possession of hollow point bullets.

 

The decision is 41 pages long, so I can’t repeat all the details, but the short summary is that the defendant legally purchased 3 handguns, two large capacity magazines (16 rounds per magazine) and hollow point bullets in Colorado where he lived at the time. He moved back to New Jersey with his former wife and their child, but when things went sour with her, he began splitting his time between a friend’s home in Hoboken, his parent’s home in Mount Laurel, and his old place in Colorado Whenever he would go from place to place, he would take his possessions with him, including his guns, ammo and magazines. Defendant did not have a license to carry.

 

At some point, the defendant left his mother’s house after an apparent argument with his ex-wife. Believing he might be suicidal, defendant’s mother called 9-1-1. The investigating officer procured defendant’s cell phone number and called the defendant, convincing him to return to Mount Laurel. When he did, the car was searched with the defendant’s consent, and the guns, magazines and ammunition were found in a shoebox in his trunk. Defendant was indicted, tried and convicted.

 

On appeal, the Appellate Division found the search was justified and denied the defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence. The Appellate Division also found, however, that the trial Court had erred by refusing to instruct the jury that there was an exception in the law for transporting unlicensed weapons from one residence to another. Since the had a temporary residence in Hoboken and another temporary residence in Mount Laurel, the defendant might have been able to argue that his possession of the weapons under the circumstances was not illegal.

 

As for the large capacity magazines, the Appellate Court found that the arresting officer was not an expert, and was unable to testify that the magazines were capable of feeding ammunition “continuously and directly therefrom into a semi-automatic firearm.” In the absence of this proof, the State failed to prove all of the elements of an offense.

 

Finally, as to the hollow point ammunition, the Appellate Division found that the exception that allowed the defendant to transport his guns from one residence to another did not apply to hollow core bullets. There is an exception under NJSA 2C:39-3(g)(2)(a) which allows someone to possess hollow core ammunition at his home, and to carry such ammunition to his home from the place he legally purchased it, but it does not allow someone to move it from one home to another.

This, and various elements of this case are being discussed in about three different threads.

Sorry about that. I just saw the decision on the New Jersey Daily Decision Alert, did a summary on Word, and cut and pasted the summary on the Forums without looking to see if anyone had posted earlier. I should have searched before I posted. My bad.