Been in NJ for a couple weeks

[chris in va]

Coming from VA and the Louisville area, I have to say this is a whole different way of thinking when it comes to firearms. The general thought is police officers are the only ones that really should have guns, and you're looked at as a freak if you mention owning any. Many people I have come across can't wrap their minds around the concept.

Another thing is how they approach 'safety'. Everyone knows where the 'good' and 'bad' parts of town are. If you venture through the shady areas, the doors get locked and you make sure to stay together. No pepper spray, no defensive tools.

I can't wait to get back to my guns, but it's still an interesting mindset they have here.

 

[jhenry]

I've been there many times. Still have some family by marriage there. It is a dreadful place for a gun guy to be. My advice is to get out as soon as is practicable and don't look back.

 

[4D5]

I was in NJ a couple years ago for a one week training class.

The instructor had just recently got into firearms (well as much as you can in NJ) and has a couple handguns.

I being from Nevada told him about living in the United States, that you can legally own short barrel rifle/shotguns, threaded pistol barrels, supressors, machineguns and AOW and that I own some of said items. I also told him that from the safe to pulling the trigger on BLM was only about 5 minutes.

He wanted to be my new best friend

 

[egor20]

I was at Earle weapons station for 17 months, I feel you're pain.

Never happier to get back to Ole Virginie in my life. :barf:
The "turn right to go left" drove me nuts also

 

[Bud Helms]

"turn right to go left"

LMBO! I spent five months there, around Clarksboro, in the south, in the latter half of 2008. I know what you mean. Very strange place.

Lots of good folks there. Weird government.

 

[NRA_guy]

Not NJ, but worse: I was spending a few days in Washington, DC a couple of years ago.

I wake up early, and I was the first one in the free breakfast area of the motel. Two uniformed young policemen came in and were chatting with each other.

I like to talk to folks from other parts of the country; so I spoke to them, and we had a brief conversation about where I was from (Mississippi).

I showed them my CCW permit. They could not understand the concept.

To them, only LEOs should have guns. Any other person in posession of a gun was considered a criminal to be arrested.

We didn't talk long.

 

[Rich Miranda]

Lots of good folks there. Weird government.

Agreed 100%. I lived in NJ for almost four years. As for government, everyone knows it's horrible, but so many folks have are employed by it, that nothing will ever be done.

The gun culture in NJ is such that it has been ultra-difficult to own firearms for so long that most folks long ago gave up. Many believe there is no legal way to own guns, and if there is, no legal way to shoot them.

Guns shops are few, and the ones that do exist are surprisingly unhelpful in even explaining to you the legalities of getting the correct permits that would allow you to own a gun.

People have essentially given up their gun rights there. There are some positives with living in New Jersey, but if you like guns, you're better off just about anywhere else.

Jughandles (those pesky turn-right-to-go-lefts) are even more annoying when they alternate with standard left turns (such as on Route 73 in South Jersey) because now you have no idea which lane to be in, left or right!

 

[kx592]

NJ resident here, most are absolutely right, if you come into a conversation about firearms and you say your have a few or enjoy shooting it makes you the outcast in most situations. However someone mentioned pepper spray and other defensive items, pepper spray is legal, as long as its the smaller bottle about the size of you hand. Also you can carry a knife that is no larger than the palm of your hand and is not automatic, spring assist is allowed. Thats about it.

 

[SIGSHR]

I've lived in NJ for more years than I care to admit, and I've probably gotten used to its quirks and peculiarities. Plenty of shooters, a fair number of whom are liberals hiding their conservative "deviancy", the politicians have felt our wrath when we are provoked enough. A number of old time and old line gunshops have closed alas, family owned businesses that either had no heir to take it over or couldn't find a buyer, several indoor and outdoor ranges have closed over the last decade or so, that is a problem. High population density means backyard shooting is either forbidden or greatly restricted, CCW also extremely hard to get, issued by apponted Superior Court judges, not local Chiefs of Police. Purchasing a handgun involves getting a Permit to Purchase from the local Chief of Police, that varies widely as far as waiting to get one's permit. Leaves a lot to be desired, not quite as bad as some think.

 

[silentargus]

"Not as bad as some think" - compared to, say, California or Illinois... no, it's not that bad. Compared to almost anywhere else in the country, even Maryland and New York state (the city being a rather nastier animal), it's atrocious. The major points:

* In order to buy any firearm, you must have a Firearms Purchaser ID Card.

* In order to buy a handgun, you must have a Permit to Purchase a Handgun... for each handgun you purchase.

* For either of the above, you must provide two character references.

* You can only buy one handgun per month.

* Every ammo purchase must be logged.

* Carry permits are nearly impossible to obtain without political influence or a sum of money large enough to buy said influence.

* Even if you do get a carry permit, you can't carry anything but FMJ.

* "Assault weapon" ban, nearly identical to the 1994 Clinton abomination, including a magazine capacity restriction (15rds) among other things.

* Transport law prohibits any movement of firearms except under specific circumstances, which are exceedingly difficult to prove should you be required to in court. In addition to the guns themselves being in locked cases, ammo must be in a separate locked case, the guns cannot have unloaded magazines inserted, and loaded magazines or speedloaders may not be transported, period.

* All the usual problems associated with living within commuting distance of four major gun-unfriendly cities (NYC, DC, Philly, and Baltimore), and several extremely well-funded anti-gun activists... some of whom *coughBloombergcough* hold or regularly buy political offices.

*Courts and State Police well known to be hostile to gun owners and gun ownership, to the point where they will outright ignore laws in order to stack the deck.

* NJ is the only state in the Union which requires that all NICS calls be made through the State Police rather than directly from the dealer. The going rate for the privilege of having that extra obstacle imposed on you is $15.90 per purchase.

Is it the worst place in the country? No, but unlike other states where the strongest anti-gun laws and sentiments are concentrated in and around the major cities, with holdouts of sensibility in rural areas (like in NY or CA), NJ is rotten all over. Our gun laws are consistent across the state, and they're consistently bad.

 

[ejfalvo]

Lived there for 12 years. Never got use to the draconian firearm laws - but didn't know anything else - until i went to a gun show in NC.

Leave now.