I was reading a discussion in the Current Gun Law Discussion and it prompted me to take a look at the book by Even Nappen.  Who here has a copy, and what are your thoughts on it?

 

I try to read and self-educate through the NJLEG website as much as possible, and so I'm not sure of the value on the book.  I tried looking around for some reviews but only found two on Amazon and no reviews on Lulu.

 

Open for discussion.

Not sure what there is to review. its a very, very handy book of reference for the average guy to look at. It of course is no replacement for a f2f talk with a live lawyer but its a terrific first "go to" for info. A heck lot easier to start with the book than tangent prone inet searches imo. 400 pages of cites and layman explanations with occasional follow-ups called "loopholes & pitfalls" to watch out for. Not sure if theres anything else to compare it to at least for NJ.

Although it contains the actual laws you can get that on the Internet (and that is searchable).

 

The biggest value to me are the in depth discussion he has of each facet of the law. He provides lots of tips that I would not have thought about on my own. It is really the go to book. I have put tags on many pages which make it a little easier to find specific items.

It is a good resource, but I think it is very poorly put together.  It has all the laws in one section with nothing but the actual text of the laws.  It has another section that is in the format of questions and then detailed answers and explanations that is good.  The resource would be much better if it had a better keyword index so you could actually find specific aspects of the law and discussions quickly.  While everything you need might be in the book it is cumbersome to find a lot of stuff.

It's about the best book short of a real lawyer. I agree it's not the easiest to navigate, but that's what lawyers are for, right.  Worth the investment,

I know folks who can quote it, chapter and verse.  I also know folks who use it like you'd use a PDR to look-up symptoms of a disease.  Yet there are others who buy it, glance at it, and then ask here for our opinions, lol.

 

NJ gun law remains a changing, fluid subject.  As such, there are those that wanna play w/ Gunz that can't interpret written facts as presented in book form.  Their brains aren't wired that way.  So those folks have two choices:  they can sit in a classroom for a full day seminar OR they can "ask the internet" (come HERE, lol)....

 

Because the laws are written in reverse (with Exceptions and Exemptions) it takes someone with an analytical mind to properly read them while at the same time using the punctuation EXACTLY as written.  The analysis in the book tries to give examples of the most frequently asked questions here on this Forum (and the internet in general).  It does an excellent job at it, so it's well worth the money spent.

 

That all being said, there are still nuances that remain unclear due to the overlapping of some written gun law, such as:  "Other Land owned or possessed by him".  Do I need to helocast  down onto a land parcel I own so I can patrol same with my firearm (doesn't say long gun so hand gun is oky-doky) or am I allowed to simply drive there with my unloaded firearm secured in the trunk?  What if I have (4) pieces of EXEMPT property to patrol the perimeter of in a single evening?  Must I drive back to home or some other Exempt location (like a private club's range in the middle of the night) prior to making the next stop?  Isn't the INTENT of "Directly To and From" to avoid unnecessary mileage and "exposure of the public" to my transportation of my 100 hand gun arsenal laying in my cars' trunk?  What if I went to collect cash from four Bars I own in the same or different NJ counties?  Land Owners and Business Owners have more RIGHTS than you and I do.  If not, and my interpretation is incorrect, then why hasn't any Business Owner been locked-up driving-around with unloaded hand gun(s) collecting money from drop-boxes?

 

Now switch gears and instead of empty, vacant parcels I now wanna store and transport firearms from (3) dwellings, all owned by me, that I visit to live there for days/weeks/months at a time, so I can go to any club with a published match on any day I desire?  I can store rifles, pistols and scatterguns in all (3) places since ALL (3) dwellings are EXEMPT locations.  Anybody here own a house down the Shore or up in the Mountains?

 

Nuance and critical thinking, and a pinch of common sense is needed to fully wrap your head around what's actually printed in INK.  The Book covers MOST of everything you'll need and is well worth the money spent.  It's NOT ever going to cover every potential facet of the confusion that is NJ gun law.  At the end of the day, no matter what happens, it's all up to how a Judge charges the Jury (ask Brian Aitken or read Blue Tent Sky).

 

Do yourself a favor and buy a pack of multi-colored Highlighters when you buy the Book.  Key the actual law to the written interpretation, or dog-ear the pages.  It helps!

 

Dave 

I know folks who can quote it, chapter and verse.  I also know folks who use it like you'd use a PDR to look-up symptoms of a disease.  Yet there are others who buy it, glance at it, and then ask here for our opinions, lol.

 

NJ gun law remains a changing, fluid subject.  As such, there are those that wanna play w/ Gunz that can't interpret written facts as presented in book form.  Their brains aren't wired that way.  So those folks have two choices:  they can sit in a classroom for a full day seminar OR they can "ask the internet" (come HERE, lol)....

 

Because the laws are written in reverse (with Exceptions and Exemptions) it takes someone with an analytical mind to properly read them while at the same time using the punctuation EXACTLY as written.  The analysis in the book tries to give examples of the most frequently asked questions here on this Forum (and the internet in general).  It does an excellent job at it, so it's well worth the money spent.

 

That all being said, there are still nuances that remain unclear due to the overlapping of some written gun law, such as:  "Other Land owned or possessed by him".  Do I need to helocast  down onto a land parcel I own so I can patrol same with my firearm (doesn't say long gun so hand gun is oky-doky) or am I allowed to simply drive there with my unloaded firearm secured in the trunk?  What if I have (4) pieces of EXEMPT property to patrol the perimeter of in a single evening?  Must I drive back to home or some other Exempt location (like a private club's range in the middle of the night) prior to making the next stop?  Isn't the INTENT of "Directly To and From" to avoid unnecessary mileage and "exposure of the public" to my transportation of my 100 hand gun arsenal laying in my cars' trunk?  What if I went to collect cash from four Bars I own in the same or different NJ counties?  Land Owners and Business Owners have more RIGHTS than you and I do.  If not, and my interpretation is incorrect, then why hasn't any Business Owner been locked-up driving-around with unloaded hand gun(s) collecting money from drop-boxes?

 

Now switch gears and instead of empty, vacant parcels I now wanna store and transport firearms from (3) dwellings, all owned by me, that I visit to live there for days/weeks/months at a time, so I can go to any club with a published match on any day I desire?  I can store rifles, pistols and scatterguns in all (3) places since ALL (3) dwellings are EXEMPT locations.  Anybody here own a house down the Shore or up in the Mountains?

 

Nuance and critical thinking, and a pinch of common sense is needed to fully wrap your head around what's actually printed in INK.  The Book covers MOST of everything you'll need and is well worth the money spent.  It's NOT ever going to cover every potential facet of the confusion that is NJ gun law.  At the end of the day, no matter what happens, it's all up to how a Judge charges the Jury (ask Brian Aitken or read Blue Tent Sky).

 

Do yourself a favor and buy a pack of multi-colored Highlighters when you buy the Book.  Key the actual law to the written interpretation, or dog-ear the pages.  It helps!

 

Dave 

THIS is what makes all of our guns laws illegal, seeing as that the way they're written, they make them all illegal with exceptions/exemptions. i just wish someone would challeng them on that basis......but i know why they won't though.

400 pages of cites and layman explanations with occasional follow-ups called "loopholes & pitfalls" to watch out for. Not sure if theres anything else to compare it to at least for NJ

 

The biggest value to me are the in depth discussion he has of each facet of the law. He provides lots of tips that I would not have thought about on my own. It is really the go to book.

 

It is a good resource, but I think it is very poorly put together.  It has all the laws in one section with nothing but the actual text of the laws.  It has another section that is in the format of questions and then detailed answers and explanations that is good.

 

It's about the best book short of a real lawyer. I agree it's not the easiest to navigate, but that's what lawyers are for, right.  Worth the investment,

 

It's NOT ever going to cover every potential facet of the confusion that is NJ gun law.  At the end of the day, no matter what happens, it's all up to how a Judge charges the Jury (ask Brian Aitken or read Blue Tent Sky).

 

 

Thanks very much EVERYONE for your input on the book.  I just wasn't sure what to expect after reading the description provided on his site...so getting a third-party perspective is appreciated.

 

Of note, I actually have The Blue Tent Sky sitting on my shelf just waiting to be read.  Haven't started it yet because I imagine I won't want to put it down once I start.

I had one once. I left it at the sign in room for the range so other people could use it. Put my name on it in sharpie. Also wrote property of sjsc on it.

Havent seen it since. F u you f'n theive. Cost me 60$. I hope youre going to need it