On Tuesday, a federal judge blocked part of New Jersey’s handgun carry law that banned gun owners from carrying handguns in “sensitive places” as well as the measure requiring permit holders to carry insurance, the Associated Press reported.
While the Second Amendment groups that sued the state hailed the ruling as a victory, New Jersey’s Attorney General Matt Platkin already filed an appeal.
However, the judge’s order only blocks part of the New Jersey law that Governor Murphy signed last December. In her decision, the judge wrote that most of the state’s permitting requirements are consistent with the Second Amendment.
She argued that historically, the country has “disarmed dangerous individuals” and those who might “endanger the public with a firearm.” She said the law’s permitting requirements adhere to that tradition “with some exceptions.”
In her order, US District Judge Renee Marine Bumb blocked state officials from enforcing the provision that would bar lawful carry permit holders from carrying firearms within 100 feet of bars, restaurants, certain entertainment facilities, zoos, and certain public gatherings.
In blocking certain parts of the law, the judge argued that the Second Amendment prohibits states like New Jersey from preventing “law-abiding citizens” from “exercising their right to keep and bear arms.”
The judge’s order did not specify if the court was also blocking the carrying of firearms near universities, schools, or childcare facilities.
Additionally, Judge Bumb blocked the state’s insurance mandate for permit holders that was set to go into effect in July.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Executive Director Scott Bach of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs hailed the judge’s decision, calling it a “devastating blow” to a law that sought to trash the right to carry.
A spokesman for the governor’s office described Judge Bumb’s ruling as “poorly reasoned,” “misguided,” and “erroneous.”
