New Jersey after Bruen - This is not legal advice

[bushmaster1313]

This is not legal advice.

In the wake of Bruen, the acting New Jersey Attorney general issued this directive on June 24 2022:

https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcj/agguide/directives/ag-Directive-2022-07_Directive-Clarifying-Requirements-For-Carrying-Of-Firearms-In-Public.pdf


The directive includes this language.

The decision in N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen, No. 20-843, prevents us from continuing to require a demonstration of justifiable need in order to carry a firearm, but it does not prevent us from enforcing the other requirements in our law.

It also says this:

Review of Applications. In reviewing an individual’s application for a permit to carry, the applicable law enforcement agency shall continue to ensure that the applicant satisfies all of the criteria of N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4d and N.J.A.C. 13:54-2.4, except that the applicant need not submit a written certification of justifiable need to carry a handgun

Therefore, someone who was prevented from getting a carry permit only by lack of justifiable need should now be able to get a permit. Whether that happens is anyone’s guess.

I believe that the directive was issued to prevent the NJ permitting requirement from getting thrown out completely.

Remember, if you apply for a New Jersey carry permit and get denied you will have to state that in your next application for a New Jersey permit to purchase a handgun and that could tie up that permitting process.

I, for one, would continue to assume that a New Jersey carry permit remains a requirement for legal carry in New Jersey.

 

[Beemerguy53]

As a Marylander, where we have a "good and substantial reason" condition for the issuance of a carry permit, I don't see the SCOTUS decision as eliminating the permit requirement entirely...it just compels the state to issue carry permits without first making applicants prove they need them.

Given the contempt our state's Attorney General has for the 2nd Amendment, and his well-documented history of opposing any measure that even looks like it would help gun owners, I expect Maryland to do only the bare minimum necessary in order to comply with the SCOTUS ruling.