by A challenge to New Jersey’s prohibition on possession, transportation, and carrying of hollow point ammunition was filed yesterday in US District Court for the District of New Jersey. The lawsuit, Bergmann-Schoch et al v. Platkin et al, was filed on behalf of Heidi Bergmann-Schoch as the individual plaintiff along with institutional plaintiffs Coalition of New Jersey Firearms Owners (CNJFO), Gun Owners of America (GOA), and Gun Owners Foundation.
The suit alleges that New Jersey’s ban is “unconstitutional and ahistorical”. In particular, given Bruen and Heller decision held respectively the right to bear arms in public for self-defense and that the handgun is the most popular weapon “chosen by Americans for self-defense, to ban the most popular and effective self-defense ammo for a handgun is unconstitutional. Further, it is ahistorical in that there was never “an early American tradition of prohibiting the public carry of any type of ammunition, much less hollow point or self-defense ammunition.” New Jersey remains the only US state to ban hollow point ammunition for both handguns and rifles.
As we saw in the Brian Aitken case, New Jersey treats violations of the law regarding possession of hollow point ammunition very seriously. Aitken was sentenced to seven years in prison before having his sentence first commuted and then obtaining a pardon from then-NJ Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ).
The lawsuit notes:
Making it a criminal offense to carry ordinary ammunition in ordinary handguns for self-defense, the “central component” of the Second Amendment, New Jersey’s ban operates to largely “confine the right … to the home[,] … nullify[ing] half of the Second Amendment’s operative protections,” even though “[m]any Americans hazard greater danger outside the home than in it.” Bruen, 597 U.S. at 29, 32, 33.
Heidi Bergmann-Schoch holds a valid New Jersey Permit to Carry a Handgun, is a firearms trainer and range safety officer, Second Amendment activist, and a coordinator for a chapter of The Well Armed Woman. Heidi had a guest post on this blog regarding the The Well Armed Woman program in June 2020. She is also a member of both CNJFO and GOA.
The suit argues that bullets and ammunition are arms under the plain text of the Second Amendment and that hollow point ammunition is in common use as defined by the Heller decision. It goes on to note that even in US v. Miller (1939) the Supreme Court held that “the possession of arms also implied the possession of ammunition.” They then go into an extensive discussion of the efficacy of hollow point ammunition versus ball or full metal jacket ammunition. It is noted that hollow point bullets are less likely to penetrate the body armor worn by law enforcement than FMJ ammo thus negating any argument that hollow point bullets are more injurious to law enforcement.
Count One says the ban on hollow point ammunition violates both the Second and Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution and “conflicts with Bruen’s clear teachings.” Based on this, the court is asked to find N.J.S.A. § 2C:39-3(f)(1) unenforceable and unconstitutional. A permanent injunction enjoining the NJ Attorney General, the head of the State Police, and all other officials responsible for enforcing the ban on possession, transportation, and carrying of hollow point ammunition is sought along with attorney fees and court costs.
Representing the plaintiffs are Steven J. Harfenist of Lake Success, NY and noted 2A attorney Stephen Stamboulieh of Olive Branch, MS.
