Court Finds Reloading Greatest Threat to New Jersey Safety
New Jersey residents secured a major public-safety victory Friday when the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Constitution protects citizens from the grave and historically unsupported burden of having to reload. The 10-5 decision struck down the state’s ban on semiautomatic rifles classified as assault firearms and magazines holding more than 10 rounds, ensuring that an especially tense homeowners-association meeting can proceed without unnecessary pauses for ammunition management.
The majority concluded that firearms in common lawful use receive Second Amendment protection even when lawmakers say restrictions could reduce gun violence. The ruling restored the nation’s founding principle that once a consumer product becomes sufficiently popular, public policy must stand aside and admire its market penetration. Judges also relied on historical tradition from an era when semiautomatic rifles, detachable magazines, indoor plumbing and the modern state of New Jersey had not yet cluttered the constitutional landscape with specifics.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who condemned the ruling outside the court-created reality, welcomed the decision inside it as a breakthrough in neighborhood conflict resolution. “I served nearly 10 years in the Navy, and that experience taught me the safest community is one where every disagreement has the tactical depth and ammunition capacity of a prolonged military engagement,” Sherrill said. State officials had argued that assault weapons and large-capacity magazines can worsen mass shootings, but the court rejected that cramped emphasis on measurable consequences in favor of the broader question of whether enough Americans had already bought them.
The Supreme Court is expected to confront similar bans as lower courts continue translating the Second Amendment into a national customer-loyalty program. Until then, Garden State residents may sleep soundly knowing any suspicious recycling-bin placement, leaf-blower violation or dispute over a shared driveway can be addressed without the dangerous interruption caused by changing magazines. New Jersey is safer now because nobody has to stop shooting after the 10th round.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.