AR-15 Ownership Ban Struck From New Jersey Assault Weapon Law

New Jersey residents have a legal right to purchase and keep AR-15 rifles, a federal court ruled in a decision partially invalidating the state’s Assault Firearms Law.

The US District Court for the District of New Jersey held that the “Second Amendment’s plain text” covers use of the AR-15 “within the home for self-defense,” applying the 2022 US Supreme Court decision N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, which compels courts to analyze modern day gun restrictions based on historic limits on firearms.

But Judge Peter G. Sheridan’s Tuesday ruling upheld most of the state’s other restrictions, like ...