New Jersey is one of those states in the union where gun rights go to die. The Garden State never misses an opportunity to throw up a roadblock to the right to keep and bear arms. So, of course, an “assault weapons” ban is a part of the state’s ever-expanding labyrinth of laws restricting the kind of firearms New Jerseyites can buy and own.
You may have heard about Franklin Armory’s unique Reformation line of firearms. Legally speaking, they’re neither rifles or shotguns. As Jeremy described the design of the Reformation . . .
…the barrel has lands and grooves but they’re totally straight, and since there’s no spin imparted on the projectile it isn’t considered “rifling” (and therefore doesn’t meet the definition of a rifle), but also isn’t a smoothbore (so doesn’t meet the definition of a shotgun)…
Franklin, being the enterprising gun business they are, took a look at New Jersey’s statutes and determined that the state’s laws don’t prohibit sales of the Reformation. But as Franklin’s marketing manager Sun Naegele tells TTAG, that didn’t sway either the New Jersey State Police, the Department of Law and Public Safety or the Attorney General’s office. They refused to allow the Reformation to be be sold there.
It seems that the letter of the law means only what the state’s gun-grabbing politicians want it to mean. If a firearm looks too assaulty, that’s enough to ban it in Bayonne. To which Franklin Armory has said, we’ll just see about that.
Franklin has filed suit against the state in US District Court over its refusal to allow sales of Reformation guns. You can read the complaint, Franklin Armory v. New Jersey, here. Franklin has issued the following press release . . .
Minden, NV, October 24, 2019 – Franklin Armory® is filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the State of New Jersey challenging the unconstitutional actions of the New Jersey State Police. The complaint challenges the agencies unlawful prohibition of the Franklin Armory® Reformation® series firearms.
Jay Jacobson President said, “fundamentally, the State of New Jersey has infringed upon our
Constitutional rights. We will never stand by when an agency of any jurisdiction unlawfully
restricts our rights or those of our customers.”This lawsuit alleges official misconduct, negligence, recklessness and/or purposefully, intentional or callously indifferent conduct of Defendants State of New Jersey, New Jersey State Police, Patrick A. Callahan (in his capacity as Superintendent of the State of New Jersey Police), Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, Gurbir Grewal (in his official capacity as Attorney General), and the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety (“Defendants”). Specifically, the lawsuit claims that Defendants have violated Plaintiff’s constitutional rights and caused irreparable damage to Plaintiff by improperly, and without legal justification, preventing, precluding, and delaying the lawful sale of lawful firearms within the State of New Jersey.