Posted: 5/2/2013 3:35:50 PM EDT
Hey all, I'm relatively new to the whole magazine capacity thing. I've never dealt with that restriction in a state where I owned a firearm (said, b/c i did live in NYC for a few years and was not allowed to own anything unless i jumped through expensive hoops). So, I did a 30 day forum search for the word "magazine" in the thread title of our NJ forum and got no results. My question is, why isn't there a 'sticky' magazine related thread for us NJ folks?
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Quoted:
Or, is it a cut/dry thing that I just haven't grasped? Entirely possible - i'm no lawyer and I've never been accused of being the smartest guy in the room that I can recall. It's pretty cut-and-dry. For now, anyway, magazines over 15-round capacity are illegal. That's for both handguns and rifles. Ditto for any semi-automatic firearm with a fixed magazine - it can't hold more than 15 rounds. Note that this is for semi-auto only. A lever-action .22 that can hold 20 rounds of .22 short is legal. And I say for now, because there's pending legislation that would seek to reduce this capacity. It doesn't look like that's going to come up for a vote anytime soon, but one never knows in this state. If you want to read the actual statutes, 2C:39-1y defines a large-capacity magazine, and 2C:39-1w defines assault firearms. Possession of both is prohibited in 2C:39-3j and 2C:39-5f, respectively. |
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Thanks for the response Tom488. Glad to hear that guidance especially from someone watching the local legislation news (like myself). I guess I was more leaning towards the pinning of standard capacity mags. i was worried about asking questions that would start a debate instead of a conversation. I fully abide by the laws, but I'm concerned with the pinning of mags and what the permanent version is. There's companies that will epoxy, others that are not willing and only do 'blind pin', and some that don't even go near it.
Has there been a collective 'verdict' on that or are we in a 'play it safe for the personal and greater good' situation? many quotes and parentheses - my bad all! I'm not great at internet communication but want to make clear my 'inflection'. last air quote was in jest btw 
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Ah, ok... as far as pinning or blocking magazines to get to the legal 15-round limit.... short answer is, there is no legal standard, other than the modification must be "permanent". What's permanent mean? Good question. Is a mag body that's been cut down, so that it can only physically hold 15 rounds permanent? Yes. Is a magazine with a follower with extended legs permanent? Unknown - because what if you just cut down the legs of the follower? Blind-pinned? What if you just drill the pin out? Block under the follower, with an epoxied base plate? I bet I could remove that base plate with a Dremel...
Even magazines from a certain arms and ammunition dealer in south Jersey, that have a custom base plate riveted into the mag body... I can easily drill out the rivets, and cut the base plate down a little, just enough so that the mag will accommodate 16 rounds. So - how permanent is permanent? Hell - I'm staring at a Pro Mag 10-round magazine right now - it's a 20-round mag body, but there are some deep grooves stamped into the body, that stops the follower at 10 rounds. Some quick slicing with a Dremel will remove those stampings (having the added benefit of creating visual slots in the mag body, so you could see how many rounds you have left), and allow it to hold 20 rounds. Like most of the rest of NJ's vague firearms laws, there's no clear and concise answer. It all goes back to the old, "when dealing with firearms, the citizen acts at his peril" quote. |
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well said TOM$488 - the conversation of permanence is a weird concern for me. for many, i guess.
I feel like,' Even when I'm doing the right thing I worry. " I'm just conservative in that way, but worried about altering/destroying something i bought and made good in a best efforts sense. All the standard mags that i owned are at my moms house 2 hours away in a state that allows them and might even have lower violence, gun type included. |