New Jersey Bill Would Require Body Armor to Be Registered and Permit for Purchase

TRENTON, N.J. — Although it’s an introduction of an older bill, S3147 is the perfect illustration of how New Jersey would objectively leave its citizens defenseless against criminals.

The bill was introduced on January 13, 2026, and referred to the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee, where it remains with no further recorded actions, hearings, or votes as of this writing.

This bill was first brought to the attention of News2A by Second Amendment activist and content creator Jay Costa.

Although the measure saw the light of day previously in 2022 and again in 2024/2025, with varying degrees of success, it’s illustrative of a staunch authoritarian bent in Trenton. Most gun control laws put forth by the state invoke vague “public safety” standards, but not so with this bill backed by Democrats Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari and Sen. Joseph P. Cryan.

If the measure is approved with a defined effective date, the scheme would include a two-part approach, first requiring registration to own or possess body armor for preexisting armor (for which the state will certainly charge you a fee).

And much like the state’s pre-Bruen subjective standards for firearms permits, this measure then requires the state to establish “good cause eligibility criteria” for future purchase and possession. In other words, the state will get to decide whether you’re eligible to own defensive armor. And the list of individuals who are eligible is fairly short:

• law enforcement officers
• law enforcement officers who retired in good standing
• persons engaged in active duty military service
• persons whose duties of employment expose them to serious bodily injury that may be prevented or mitigated by the use of body armor
• bona fide dealers of body armor
• any other persons meeting the good cause eligibility criteria established by the Attorney General

The measure also greatly expands the definition of body armor beyond “body vest”:

Any product sold or offered for sale as personal protective body covering intended to protect against gunfire, regardless of whether the product is to be worn alone or is sold as a complement to another product or garment.

Own a Kevlar helmet? Illegal unless registered. A level IIIA vest designed to be worn under a T-shirt? Also illegal unless registered.

S3147 flat-out makes New Jerseyans unable to buy defensive armor without the state’s subjective approval, and violating either the permit or registration elements is a crime of the third degree, a criminal offense (often called a felony elsewhere), punishable by a term of three to five years in state prison or a fine up to $15,000.

Even if New Jersey did manage to pass its body armor restrictions, they would likely be struck down. On Wednesday, October 21, a United States District Court ruled that New York State’s ban on defensive body armor “violates the Second Amendment.”