"Not much to do except comply when it happens"
Music to a politician's ears.
Population of New Jersey is just under 9,000,000 (2010 census). Assuming that NJ residents follow the national norm for firearms ownership, this means that about 3,000,000 people own firearms.
Total populations now in NJ prisons and jails is about 30,000. Unless NJ is significantly different than any other US state, that number is just about capacity (or a little over capacity). That number equates to about 1% of NJ gun owners. So, if one of every one hundred NJ gun owners refuses to comply and appears in a public peaceful civil disobedience gathering with a banned item:
1. There is no way to arrest that number of people.
2. There are no jail cells to hold that number of people.
3. If every one refuses to post bail or give a promise to appear there will be no way to proceed with any criminal case.
4. If every one charged enters a 'not guilty' plea and demands a trial by jury:
A. 30,000 criminal cases would have to be scheduled for arraignments, advisements, preliminary hearings, and trials;
B. 360,000 NJ adult residents would have to serve on juries (actually about 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 would have to be called to jury duty during selection processes);
C. If all 30,000 were convicted and refused to pay any fine or costs, or accept any terms of probation or conditional release, the State of New Jersey would have to release every other prisoner now being held in every prison and jail in order to make room for these new inmates.
The short version is that just 1% of the subset of population comprising gun owners could, if organized and standing firm, completely shut down the legal system of the State of New Jersey (or any other state) while also making a crystal clear demonstration in the public media that no law can be imposed without the willing compliance of the vast majority of the population.
Other possibilities include organizing a relatively small percentage of gun owners, say 5% (roughly 150,000 NJ gun owners), and publicly refusing to pay any NJ taxes (property tax, school tax, income tax, etc) as long as the objectionable (and unconstitutional) laws remain in force. The immediate impact would be hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue for the State of New Jersey. Those in the state capitol would learn very quickly that it is impossible to impose their will without the means to pay salaries to all the cops, prison staff, judges, and others necessary to gain compliance.
Your statement "Not much to do except comply when it happens" is exactly what they want to hear. Stop giving them what they want and start organizing with like-minded people willing to engage in peaceful civil disobedience on the largest possible scale.
