The ink wasn't even dry after the Supreme Court decided Bruen in 2022 when New Jersey and a handful of other disgruntled states rushed to counterattack by criminalizing the carrying of firearms by persons with permits in numerous public places. "The legislative record reveals the Legislature paid little to no mind to Bruen and the law-abiding New Jerseyans' right to bear arms in public for self-defense. Again, the law's primary sponsor declared that 'Because of Bruen, more New Jerseyans will die as result of gun violence.'"
Chief Judge Renée Marie Bumb in the consolidated cases of Koons & Siegel v. Platkin, decided on May 16, 2023 wrote an incredibly thorough 230-page opinion, applied Bruen's text and history approach, and found that much of the New Jersey law likely violated the Second Amendment. She issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of those provisions.
The most egregious portions of the law made it a felony to enter private property open to the public unless a "gun owners welcome" sign was posted, or to carry a loaded handgun in a motor vehicle. Other banned places ran the gamut from bars and beaches to public gatherings and state parks.
