Posted: 11/20/2009 11:07:41 AM EDT
| Ok, so I've seen a couple of times guys make remarks about not traveling in NJ with loaded magazines and how it's illegal. This struck me as odd because I had not heard that until recently. I've done some looking through the laws and I can't find any reference to traveling with magazines at all either loaded or unloaded. Of course we all know the typical "in a container located in a compartment separate from the passenger compartment (if no separate compartment on the vehicle then in a locked container)" stuff. I've always traveled with my ammo in my ammo can locked in the trunk of my car, but I have had loaded magazines in there. So, firstly I suppose my 4th Amendment rights would more than likely protect me from even having to worry about it...but what's the deal? Am I missing the law? Can you point me to the statute that says loaded mags are illegal to travel with? Or am I good? |
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Quoted:
Can you point me to the statute that says loaded mags are illegal to travel with? No such statute exists. By the letter of the law, a loaded magazine in and of itself is not explicitly illegal - therefore, should be legal. However, the advice has always been to keep the mags unloaded.... lest an over-eager LEO find it, and make the lateral jump that "since a magazine is a part of a firearm, and the part is loaded with ammunition, then the firearm is considered to be loaded, even though the magazine isn't inserted in the firearm". NJ has no definition of what a "loaded firearm" is, unlike states like PA (in PA, they define a loaded firearm as a firearm with ammunition in the chamber, in a fixed magainze, or, in the case of a detachable magazine, where said loaded magazine occupies the same compartment as the firearm). Due to the undefined nature of "loaded firearm" in NJ, no one (in their right mind) wants to be the test case. I used to carry loaded mags locked in an ammo case. After thinking about it more, I decided that the 5 minutes it takes me to load the mags at the range wasn't worth the risk. |
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Hello Joe, from another member from the eventual free state of South Jersey!!!!
Depends on how liberal the prosecuter is. Especaily dangerous if you have evil hollowpoint ammo in it! Worst is as a LEO, I have to carry HP, now is that to do more death and desrtuction or is it to prevent riccochets? |