Question about possession (brought up from Airport Transfer question)

[supranatural 66]

I just thought of a question brought on by another thread where a scenario was described in that if a friend came over to my house and I let him/her handle any of my firearms that this would be considered an illegal transfer as there is no exception for it in the laws. So...

 

1) Say I'm at the range. If I let a friend shoot any of my firearms, is that illegal and subject to prosecution?

2) I have a pistol in a safe at home for home defense purposes. An intruder breaks in when I'm not home and my wife is forced to use the gun to defend herself. Is this an illegal transfer?

 

 

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[Mr.Stu 1,916]

This is called a temporary transfer - http://law.onecle.com/new-jersey/2c-the-new-jersey-code-of-criminal-justice/58-3.1.html

 

In a nut shell you can do a temporary transfer in the woods or fields or upon the water if the firearm is to be used for hunting and the correct permits have been obtained. You may also do a temporary transfer at a bunch of specified range types, i.e. a firing range operated by a licensed dealer, by a law enforcement agency, a legally recognized military organization or a rifle or pistol club which has filed a copy of its charter with the superintendent and annually submits to the superintendent a list of its members. Both parties must remain on the premises for the duration of the transfer and it may not exceed 8 hours in a 24 hour period. If it is a club operated range and they do not submit a list of their members to NJSP then you may not do a temporary transfer there.

 

There are some other exemptions though. A certified instructor may do a temporary transfer of an unloaded firearm anywhere suitable for training purposes. This would cover me if you came to my house and I showed you one of my pistols, showing you how it worked and how to operate it.

 

I can't find my copy of Nappen right now, but I believe there is also a wide exemption for a parent doing a temporary transfer to a son or daughter, but as I can't find it don't take that as gospel.

[Smokin .50 1,907]

Stu answered the question admirably!  I'll just add this:  One of the greatest experiences at private clubs is watching a competition shooter have a gun malfunction:  Trunk lids pop-open, ammo, holsters, mags  and back-up guns are made available so that the Competitor can continue with the Match.  I've even seen someone show-up to a match with ZIPKIS (cause they grabbed the wrong bag, etc.) and wind-up staying to shoot the match.  

 

What you don't wanna do is "play show and tell" with hand guns at a half-assed range in the middle of the woods and have the Po-Po show up.  NO exemption for that (unless you're a carded Instructor) since there's no hand gun hunting or season in NJ...

 

As for wifey blowing-away Mr. Scumbag with a hand gun that doesn't belong to her, well, technically it's an illegal transfer, but as Griz has said here numerous times, "If it's a Good Shoot (wifey in the right), there isn't a DA in NJ that will arrest or charge her, for fear of political backlash the size of which NJ has never seen".  I paraphrased, but you get the point.

 

The son and daughter transfer for underage kids is NOT illegal, and is covered by the exemption/exception Stu said.  Further, the kid needn't be related to the adult IF it's an organized league/competition environment such as Youth Small Bore or Youth Bullseye (our club does both).

 

Dave

[Mr.Stu 1,916]

For the question about the wife having to take your gun from the safe and use it to defend herself while you're not there, I don't think it can be considered a transfer at all. You're not there so you can't give it to her. It could be considered stealing except what's your's is her's, etc.

 

As Dave said - it is almost certainly a moot point anyway.

[ryan_j 0]

For the question about the wife having to take your gun from the safe and use it to defend herself while you're not there, I don't think it can be considered a transfer at all. You're not there so you can't give it to her. It could be considered stealing except what's your's is her's, etc.

 

As Dave said - it is almost certainly a moot point anyway.

 

No, it's a transfer. The gun changes hands. It's the same as if you left it on the shooting bench at the range and your friend picked it up to shoot. That said, this crosses the line of jointly owned property because in a marriage there really is not property that the individual married persons own, they own pretty much everything jointly.

[Mr.Stu 1,916]

No, it's a transfer. The gun changes hands. It's the same as if you left it on the shooting bench at the range and your friend picked it up to shoot. That said, this crosses the line of jointly owned property because in a marriage there really is not property that the individual married persons own, they own pretty much everything jointly.

I can see it as a transfer if he gives it to her and then leaves. If it is locked in the safe he didn't give it to her, she just took it.

[ryan_j 0]

I can see it as a transfer if he gives it to her and then leaves. If it is locked in the safe he didn't give it to her, she just took it.

 

If she has his permission, it's the same thing. And there is no "just took it." There is a transfer or there is theft.

[Mr.Stu 1,916]

All I'm saying is if he wasn't present, he could not take part in a transfer.

[ryan_j 0]

All I'm saying is if he wasn't present, he could not take part in a transfer.

 

So what is it then?

[Boejoula 0]

Looks like the wife needs her own!

[Mr.Stu 1,916]

So what is it then?

 

A great big grey area with no case law to provide clarity. I don't know the answer Ryan.

[68chris 20]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necessity

[68chris 20]

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