Ammo in car while traveling to NJ?

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Ok, so I seem to be going to NJ a little now and most of the times I drive. I don't have a non-resident permit (nor do I think I have a chance of getting one) and hence cannot transport a gun. In the past I have gone completely anal removing every thing gun related from my car - range bag, ammo cans. I couldn't figure out if there was a law regarding ammo possession in NJ - if I am not wrong in MA you cannot possess ammo w/o a license at least for a resident and NJ in many instances seems worse than MA. If ammo is ok, does it depend on the type, e.g. is hollow point ok?

Thanks!
 
I always heard hollow points were a felony in nj. 7 years per bullet. a brick of hp 22s will get you some serious time...
 
I thought HPs were a no-go for self defense in NJ. Never heard of them being banned or only legal in the home.

B
 
I don't think NJ regulates ammo possession but frankly I wouldn't have anything "gun related" in my car in NJ unless I was just transiting the state to get to free america.

-Mike
 
Thanks guys. Guess it's back to cleaning out the car prior to every trip. On the flip side it causes me to celebrate my return with a little range time!

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Transporting ammo through NJ is fine, wherever you are from. Hollow point is sold EVERYWHERE in the state. However you really can not posses it outside of your domicile. You can buy it and bring it home. You can buy it and take it to the range, and then transport the unfired rounds back to your domicile. Since we don't have to worry about the state letting us think for ourselves by carrying we don't worry about carrying hollow points. It is also illegal to transport loaded magazines (10 years per round). If you are pulled over and only have ammo in the trunk you are not obligated to disclose this to the police as it is not a fire arm. Just keep your receipts, and make sure the ammo is legal in the state that you are transporting the ammo to. I came back from a job site in West Virginia and had 1200 rounds of 9mm ammo and 1500 rounds of 45. The state police just checked out my receipt (I offered it to them), drivers license, and I was on my way. BTW I was stopped for speeding.
 
I didn't know that you had to show receipts for a speeding violation??

I buy ammo when/wherever and have a stash. If I was going somewhere South of New England with some ammo (extremely unlikely), there is no way I'd be digging out receipts from perhaps a year or more ago just to have proof if I was stopped in NJ!

Thanks for the info. I'll just stay out of NJ!
 
HPs in NJ have use restrictions; they are not illegal.
http://www.state.nj.us/njsp/about/fire_hollow.html

This!

There is a lot if misinformation in this thread. You really need to read NJ 2C:39 (and the adminiatrative code is title 13 chapter 54) and make your own desision as to what you are willing to do. Possession if ammunition is NOT illegal HOWEVER possession of hollow nose or dum dum rounds (their terms) has restrictions. Basically , you can only possess it at exempted locations and while traveling directly between those locations. You cannot make any unreasonable deviations during your course of travel. What is a reasonable deviation? Who knows. It is left intentionally vague.

Wow, old thread again got me.
 
I didn't know that you had to show receipts for a speeding violation??

I buy ammo when/wherever and have a stash. If I was going somewhere South of New England with some ammo (extremely unlikely), there is no way I'd be digging out receipts from perhaps a year or more ago just to have proof if I was stopped in NJ!

Thanks for the info. I'll just stay out of NJ!


You don't have to show receipts. He was looking at all of the boxes on my rear truck seat and asked about it. Asked if I had any guns, and that was it.
 
The whole idea is do not get pulled over...no yellow lights...no rolling though a stop sign...no turn on red without FULL stop...period.. its all the officer that stops you no matter what. I drive a pickup but this was no me:

[SIZE=+1]New Jersey: Court Upholds Man Arrested For Visible Gun Case In Car[/SIZE]
www.thenewspaper.com ^ | 5/27/2013 | http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/41/4110.asp
Posted on 5/28/2013 9:19:11 PM by KOZ.
New Jersey: Court Upholds Man Arrested For Visible Gun Case In Car New Jersey appellate court upholds five-year sentence for ex-cop who was driving with his legally owned guns.
Readington TownshipMotorists driving through New Jersey can be subjected to a warrantless search if their luggage is similar in appearance to a gun case, an appellate court ruled last week. The Superior Court's Appellate Division upheld a five year prison sentence against Dustin S. Reininger, a former police officer who was in the process of moving from Maine to Texas when a Readington Township police officer recognized the cases in the back of Reininger's vehicle as the sort that usually carries a rifle.
During the long trip on March 20, 2009, Reininger became tired and decided to pull off the road in an empty, well-lit parking lot. He stopped his green Toyota SUV, turned off his lights, and went to sleep in the driver's seat under a blanket. At 3:25am, Officer Gregory Wester knocked on his window and woke him up, shining a flashlight in his eyes. Officer Wester testified that Reininger appeared "nervous and tired." The policeman asked Reininger whether he was carrying anything illegal.
"No, no, all good," Reininger replied.
Reininger believes he was targeted because of his Texas license plates. Officer Wester then looked inside the SUV with his flashlight noticed two nylon cases in the back seat. Once backup arrived, Officer Wester asked for consent to search the vehicle, but Reininger said no. Officer Wester then opened up the vehicle to search the cases "for safety reasons" any way. Reininger was arrested.
After obtaining a warrant, police recovered fourteen rifles, four shotguns and three handguns, including a loaded Glock. A grand juror had asked the prosecutor whether this man would have been charged if he had used a different case.
"Basically, if someone is moving... from Residence A to Residence B, or transporting, say, for example, they just purchased it, so they can transport it to their home, if they are properly secured, locked in a trunk, locked in a special lockbox and unloaded, then that would most likely provide an exception to these requirements, and therefore a defense to being charged," prosecutor Bennett Barlyn explained.
Reininger's SUV did not have a trunk, and state law only requires the firearm be in a "closed and fastened case" or "securely tied package" while transported. His attorney argued the zippered cases satisfied this requirement.
A jury acquitted him of the charges for possession of the "assault firearms" and handgun possession but convicted him in absentia of illegal possession of hollow-point bullets, shotguns, rifles and a high-capacity magazine. He was apprehended in Texas and extradited to New Jersey.
"What I don't understand is I am a citizen without a criminal history who has served this country not only in the military but as a volunteer to my community and as a police officer, not even making hardly any income at all, and I would have given my life to protect another person and for this country," Reininger said in a statement. "How can I be convicted for exercising my right? When does it become a crime for exercising one's right?"
The three-judge appellate panel insisted New Jersey's gun control laws do not violate the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, citing the Supreme Court's recent Heller decision.
"The Second Amendment does not create 'a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever purpose,'" Judge Ronald B. Graves wrote for the panel. "Furthermore, the Second Amendment does not preclude the state from regulating the manner in which accessories must be transported."
The court also upheld the warrantless search of Reininger's vehicle.
"Based on the outward appearance of the nylon cases, Wester reasonably believed they contained rifles or shotguns that were easily accessible to defendant," Judge Graves wrote. "In our view, however, the warrantless seizure was not necessary for the officers' safety, because defendant had been removed from the vehicle and there were multiple backup officers at the scene. Nevertheless, we conclude the limited seizure was valid under the plain view exception to the search warrant requirement."
A copy of the decision is available in a 170k PDF file at the source link below.
Source: PDF File New Jersey v. Reininger (New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, 5/20/2013)
 
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After reading this and other stuff, I believe I can't pass through NJ under F.O.P.A with hollow points for my 9mm, even if properly locked in the trunk. Can anyone confirm or refute this?

The post above says among NJ's charges that stuck was "illegal possession of hollow point bullets". NJ's laws on transporting hollow points only allows them for sporting/hunting. I take this to mean 9mm hollow points can't be possessed in the state since it's hard to argue they are a hunting cartridge. I haven't come across anything that says FOPA protects you from this kind of state ammunition law. But I haven't seen anything that says it doesn't, but in 2009 it didn't protect the poor guy in the post above.
 
The story above is about someone not in compliance with FOPA.

The link you provide is for travel/use of HP ammo within the state.

Firearms Information | New Jersey State Police

See their comments on FOPA. While there are wild stories about NJ jamming people up, all of the ones that stick have been in non-FOPA compliant situations or otherwise edge cases (the NJ Port Authority - airport layover - one in particular).
 
Bump:
After reading this and other stuff, I believe I can't pass through NJ under F.O.P.A with hollow points for my 9mm, even if properly locked in the trunk. Can anyone confirm or refute this?

The post above says among NJ's charges that stuck was "illegal possession of hollow point bullets". NJ's laws on transporting hollow points only allows them for sporting/hunting. I take this to mean 9mm hollow points can't be possessed in the state since it's hard to argue they are a hunting cartridge. I haven't come across anything that says FOPA protects you from this kind of state ammunition law. But I haven't seen anything that says it doesn't, but in 2009 it didn't protect the poor guy in the post above.


FOPA allows you to transport firearms (and ammo) from origin to destination when you're legal in origin and destination, and the firearms and ammo are separate from one another and inaccessible to you.

Hollowpoint ammunition and "high-capacity" magazines aren't covered by FOPA. Both are covered under New Jersey laws. Any mag over 10 rounds is a problem. Hollowpoint ammo except as very narrowly defined is a problem. Note that "problem" in the previous two sentences may be more correctly defined as "felony".

I live in GA, I summer in CT. My solution to this is a hard plastic box with a foam insert. In it are (6) 10 round AR mags and (4) 10 round Glock mags loaded with FMJ ammo. This box is designed purely for traveling legally through New York and New Jersey. Guns go in a separate container.

When I'm getting ready to leave my "standard capacity" mags loaded with hollow points stay here in Georgia. I have limited capacity mags loaded with hollow points stashed in CT, and I have my "travel" mags with their Jersey legal ammo.

What a pain in the ass it is being a law-abiding gun owner...
 
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