On December 12, Fort Lee, New Jersey, and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office began settlement negotiations after gun rights groups brought a case challenging their unlawful confiscation of firearms from a Fort Lee resident.
In a first step of good faith towards the settlement of this case, Elsid Aliaj was able to retrieve his constitutionally-protected property after the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office withdrew its motions for the revocation of his FID card and its motion to compel the release of Elsid’s wife’s protected medical records.
But gun rights groups, New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate and Second Amendment Foundation, who jointly brought the lawsuit in November, told News2A that this is only the first step in this case with the ultimate goal, “to ensure this never happens to anyone ever again.”
Our coverage of the story behind the lawsuit documents how the Fort Lee Police Department confiscated Mr. Aliaj’s firearms, ammunition, and related accessories from his home, without presenting any warrant or court order, based upon an inaccurate medical report about his wife, who did not own any firearms. Fort Lee’s treatment of Mr. Aliaj and his wife during these events included numerous civil liberty violations.
This is not the first time that Fort Lee has infringed upon the Second Amendment rights of an individual. As we reported earlier this year, they added their own criteria and documentation, outside of what is allowed by the process outlined by the Attorney General, for permit-to-carry applicants.
