You may have always been a type of person who erred on the side of caution. And so, you may be interested in carrying a concealed weapon as a way to enhance your personal safety. This is primarily in the unlikely yet very critical event that you encounter a dangerous person or thing, and a law enforcement officer is not immediately available to come to your aid. However, before you take this measure, you must educate yourself on the state of New Jersey’s very strict gun laws. With that being said, please read on to discover whether you can carry a concealed weapon within legal limits and how a seasoned Morris County violent crime lawyer at Macri Law Firm can work to ensure you act on the right side of the law.
Can I legally carry a concealed weapon in the state of New Jersey?
In short, yes, you can legally carry a concealed weapon (i.e., handgun) in the state of New Jersey. But this is so long as your local police department or the New Jersey State Police first grants you a Permit to Carry a Handgun (PTC). To qualify for a PTC, you must be at least 21 years of age. Then, you must successfully complete a firearms training course that covers safety, handling, and state-specific regulations. Also, you must pass a live-fire shooting qualification to demonstrate your actual proficiency in safely handling a handgun.
It is worth mentioning that acquiring a PTC is a separate process from applying for a Firearms Identification Card (FID). Specifically, an FID is needed before you purchase any firearm, including handguns, rifles, shotguns, and ammunition. With that, a separate permit to purchase may be required for each handgun.
When is the use of deadly force acceptable in the state of New Jersey?
To reiterate, the main reason why you may want to carry a concealed weapon is if you must defend yourself from a posed danger. While this may be a respectable reason, it may only be justifiable with a PTC and also under very specific circumstances, per New Jersey rules and regulations.
That is, the use of deadly force in defense of your personal property may only be acceptable to protect yourself against death or serious bodily harm. Further, you must not provoke the use of force first. Also, there must not have been another, safer option like retreating or surrendering possession of your personal property. However, you are not obligated to retreat from your premises if this is the personal property in question.
As far as defending your premises goes, you may only invoke deadly force if you believe the other person is attempting to commit or committing arson, burglary, robbery, or another criminal theft or destruction of your property. Here, though, this intruder must have already used or threatened to use deadly force against you. You should have already asked the intruder to disarm, surrender, or withdraw, too. Plus, any other action you might take besides deadly force would have likely exposed you and inflicted serious bodily harm on you.
If you still have lingering questions at this point in time, please do not hesitate to reach out to a competent Morris County, New Jersey criminal defense lawyer. The team at Macri Law Firm will certainly be the perfect fit for you.