On October 10, the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC) filed a motion for “summary judgment” in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in the combined magazine ban and assault firearm ban cases.
ANJRPC is the official NRA state affiliate in the Garden State and the plaintiffs are being represented by Daniel L. Schmutter of Hartman & Winnicki. The combined cases include ANJRPC v. Platkin, Cheeseman v. Platkin, and Ellman v. Platkin.
ANJRPC also filed a separate motion asking the court to dismiss testimony from nine “expert witnesses” on the basis that their testimony used pre-Bruen thinking and analysis such as “intermediate scrutiny”, a type of interest balancing that was expressly prohibited by Bruen.
The request for summary judgment includes an elegant and simple summary of the case distilled into four principle statements:
- The Firearms And Magazines That New Jersey Has Banned Are “Arms.”
- The Arms That New Jersey Has Banned Are Typically Possessed By Law Abiding Citizens For Lawful Purposes, Including Self-Defense.
- There Is No Historical Tradition In This Country Of Banning Arms That Millions Of Law-Abiding Citizens Own For Lawful Purposes.
- The Magazine Ban is an Unconstitutional Taking.
The lawsuits challenge New Jersey’s ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds and New Jersey’s unique classification of so-called “assault weapons” which are identified by having two have the following characteristics for semi-automatic rifles:
- a folding or telescoping stock;
- a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
- a bayonet mount;
- a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor;
- a grenade launcher;
New Jersey has also banned certain semi-automatic pistols and semi-automatic shotguns along with a long list of firearms that are banned expressly by name.
The State has until November 3 to submit its response which will be followed by two further rounds of briefings, concluding on December 22. According to the ANJRPC statement, oral arguments are likely to be held in early 2024 and, regardless of outcome, the cases are likely to be appealed by either party.
