Tuesday’s court order means that carrying guns within 100 feet of public gatherings is prohibited.
The 2-1 decision from the court allows multiple so-called sensitive places — where New Jersey law bans guns — to take effect as litigation plays out. Prior to that, U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb, meaning that guns could be carried in areas where New Jersey law sought to prohibit them. Some key parts of the law are still blocked. Restrictions in New Jersey law around carrying guns in vehicles or movie sets, for instance, are still blocked. On private property that is open to the public — like retail stores — if a property owner does not give express permission that guns are allowed on their premises, people can still carry guns there. But a property owner still has the right to not allow guns. The liability insurance mandate for concealed carry holders is also still blocked.
The U.S. Supreme Court last year effectively expanded gun carry laws in states like New Jersey, which had severely restricted the right to carry guns outside the home for decades. In response to that ruling, Gov. Phil Murphy as well as Democrats in the state Legislature passed a sweeping overhaul of gun carry laws late last year. A key part of that law blocked guns from being carried in broad swaths of the state’s that were designated as “sensitive places.