A federal appeals court upheld the New Jersey law that bans guns from “sensitive places” after a years-long legal process.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin called the ruling a “complete victory” for the positions his office has taken.
“The gun lobby for years has argued baselessly that they have this unfettered right to bring a gun concealed wherever they want it, be it our schools, kids’ playgrounds, parks, zoos, bars, concert venues, and the court emphatically said that’s not true,” Platkin told NorthJersey.com on Sept. 10.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin attends Gov. Phil Murphy’s 2026 fiscal year budget address in Trenton on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.
The attorney general noted that guns remain the single leading cause of death for children and the state’s efforts have led to the lowest level of gun violence since the state has tracked them.
What does the ruling say?
The ruling — issued Sept. 10 by federal judges Cheryl Krause, David Porter and Cindy Chung in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia — makes it possible for the state to enforce its concealed carry gun restrictions within 100 feet of a public gathering and at zoos, parks, beaches, recreation facilities, playgrounds, youth sporting events, libraries, museums, places that serve alcohol, entertainment venues like stadiums and concert halls, casinos and health care facilities.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation to expand gun safety on July 5, 2022. He later signed additional reforms into law. Those reforms were challenged almost immediately by gun rights advocates. That challenge landed in federal court.
A federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order in the case, saying the reforms signed into law by Murphy were “aimed primarily — not at those who unlawfully possess firearms — but at law-abiding, responsible citizens.” She also said the law to limit where concealed weapons could be carried went “too far” and called the law “plainly unconstitutional.”
That ruling limited the enforcement of the new law and the restrictions on where the concealed carrying of guns is allowed. The state filed an appeal within hours and said the “district court erred in preliminarily enjoining vast swaths of New Jersey’s sensitive-places and private-property provisions.”
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Legislation regarding gun reform came in response to the United States Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen. In that decision, the court struck down New York’s concealed carry law and, the judge said, “in doing so, acknowledged the unconstitutionality of analogous statutes in other states.”
The Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs filed a lawsuit just hours after Murphy signed the legislation. A second suit was filed days later by Ronald Koons, Nicholas Gaudio and Jeffrey Muller, as well as the organizations of which they are members: the Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition Inc., the Coalition of New Jersey Firearm Owners and the New Jersey Second Amendment Society. The two lawsuits have since been consolidated.
Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ gun ban upheld in federal court