New Jersey Gun Group Sues State Government for Outdoor Shooting Ranges

On May 12, 2020, the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC) filed a federal lawsuit against the State of New Jersey to reopen outdoor ranges.

Governor Phil Murphy shut down these ranges on March 21, 2020 via executive order.

In the meantime, Murphy has allowed parks, golf courses, and tennis courts to reopen.

Scott Bach of Ammoland noted that these are “outdoor facilities that are purely recreational and do not facilitate any Constitutionally protected activity” and “can no longer pretend to have any legal argument for blocking the Second Amendment right of citizens to build and maintain firearms proficiency at outdoor ranges.”

The lawsuit can be read here.

Murphy’s executive order closed down all ranges and gun stores due to concerns over the Wuhan virus pandemic. ANJRPC then immediately sued the state to reopen gun stores. Murphy reversed course before a court compelled him to rescind this order.

Additionally, ANJRPC has plans to sue regarding the shutdown of indoor ranges, but they’ll play the waiting game on the matter.

The New Jersey pro-gun organization is ready to take this new case to the Supreme Court if need be.

Bach noted Murphy’s ulterior motive regarding the his anti-gun executive orders:

Governor Murphy has even admitted that his assault on the Second Amendment was motivated by his hatred of guns, not by safety concerns about Coronavirus. When recently asked by a reporter why he didn’t deem Second Amendment facilities to be “essential,” he stated, “a safer society for my taste has fewer guns and not more guns.” He said nothing about Coronavirus, which is apparently just his pretext for shutting down the Second Amendment.

Hopefully, Second Amendment activists come out on top here.

A generalized crisis that has nothing to do with gun policy should not be used as a pretext take power.