It’s no secret that many towns in New Jersey operate with impunity, frequently violating the Second Amendment rights of their citizens. A new lawsuit against Fort Lee aims to turn the tide against such violations and send a warning message to all New Jersey municipalities.
On Monday, November 3, NJFOS (New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate) and SAF (Second Amendment Foundation) joined a lawsuit on behalf of a private individual, Elsid Aliaj, addressing unlawful firearms seizure by the town, and also an attempt to permanently disarm the individual.
“The actions by the Fort Lee Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office are absolutely unconstitutional,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Mr. Aliaj is a peaceable citizen and is not disqualified from owning or possessing firearms, yet the police department and prosecutor’s office continue to infringe on his Second Amendment rights. He has tried going through the proper channels to regain possession of his property since April but continues to be disenfranchised.”
Aliaj v. Fort Lee Police Department was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark Vicinage. The suit also names Matthew J. Hintze, in his official capacity as Chief of the Fort Lee Police Department (“Hintze”), the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office (“BCPO”), and Mark Musella, in his official capacity as Bergen County Prosecutor.
“We are today sending a clear message that rogue police departments and county prosecutors who violate a multitude of New Jerseyans’ core constitutional rights with no legal authority will not go unchecked,” said Joe LoPorto, director of legal operations. “This case is as much about protecting our members’ Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights as it is about protecting the right to keep and bear arms.”
Earlier this year, the plaintiff’s wife had been involuntarily admitted to a mental health facility, based on a language-related misunderstanding, resulting in her discharge with a diagnosis of “Adjustment disorder with depressed mood, seven weeks pregnant.”
In April of 2025, acting on the information about his wife, the Fort Lee Police Department confiscated Mr. Aliaj’s firearms, ammunition, and related accessories from his home, without presenting any warrant or court order.
Mr. Aliaj later learned that not only was no Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) ever issued by a court, but the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office was taking the position that his weapons were confiscated under New Jersey’s “Duty to Inform” law, informing him in writing that, “This falls under the duty to warn law because your wife was involuntarily committed. There is no ERPO.”
The complaint notes the disparity between the law and how it is being applied to Mr. Aliaj:
At present, FLPD and BCPO continue to illegally deprive Aliaj of his constitutionally protected property, even though Aliaj is not under any legal, mental, or physical disability that would disqualify him from exercising his fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
It’s noteworthy that Mr. Aliaj’s wife does not now, nor has she ever, owned any firearms. And, the medical report issued in relation to her hospitalization noted that, “patient’s acute symptoms resolved since admission she was not presenting acutely anxious depressed suicidal or psychotic she did not meet the criteria for continued inpatient psychiatric hospitalization.”
After lawfully demanding the return of his seized firearms under N.J.S.A. 2A:62A-16.1.e, Fort Lee escalated the situation in a hostile attempt to disbar Mr. Aliaj from ever owning firearms again, as the complaint documents:
Moreover, on September 12, 2025, BCPO commenced a proceeding to revoke Aliaj’s Firearms Purchaser Identification Card (“FPIC”), with the intention of converting the confiscation and deprivation of his property into a permanent loss of Second Amendment rights (the “Revocation Proceeding”).
The complaint sums up the current situation:
This is not a close case. Rather, Defendants have blatantly thumbed their nose at the clear precedent of the Supreme Court of the United States and will continue to do so absent court intervention. A governmental entity simply may not prevent a peaceable, law-abiding individual from possessing handguns and other firearms in the home, full stop.
The potential for the town – and any town in New Jersey for that matter – to hamper the civil liberties of individuals simply because of who they reside with is potentially unchecked, as underscored in a public statement issued by NJFOS:
“The rationale for this action is quite simple: there is no historical tradition of disarming the people merely because they cohabitate with someone who may have a temporary legal disability…”
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.
News2A is also in correspondence with other Fort Lee residents who are currently alleging serious Second Amendment violations, providing documents and emails from various Fort Lee authorities.
