Common Hunting Rifles to be Banned by New Jersey Law

 

The gun ban that has gone to Governor Christie for signature has been described as a "gun magazine restriction",  but it bans numerous common sport and hunting rifles.   The ban has no exemption for rifles with fixed magazines, including most common .22 rimfire rifles that are used for sport and small game hunting, and almost never used in crime.

 Assembly Bill 2006 bans rifles that meet this definition:

(4)   A semi-automatic rifle with a fixed magazine capacity exceeding [15] 10 rounds.

The bracket and underline show the existing and proposed law.  There are no exemptions for grandfathering.   Anyone who possesses such rifles after the ban is put into effect will be immediately guilty of a felony.  This has already happened at least once, when an owner of a .22 Marlin that he won at a police raffle was convicted for owning the firearm.

The model owned was either the one pictured below or a very similar Marlin.  It is an "Assault Weapon" under current New Jersey law, as it has a magazine capacity of 17:

Marlin Model 60 with 17 shot magazine:

After the ban, Marlin modified the design to reduce the Magazine capacity to 15, so that the rifles could be sold throughout the nation, without having to cater to specific state laws.    Now New Jersey is pushing to tighten the restrictions even further, outlawing  the current Marlin model 60, which has a 15 round capacity and is arguably the most popular .22 rifle in the world.

Marlin Model 60 with 15 shot magazine:

Nearly all .22 rifles that have fixed tubular magazines have a capacity of more than 10 rounds.   The Remington 552 has a capacity of 15-22 rounds.

Remington  552, 15-22 shot magazine:

Currently produced Browning Semi-Auto .22 rifles may slip under the ban that  is on Governor Christie's desk.  Browning says that the magazine capacity is exactly 10.   Because of the variation of .22 ammunition, it is likely that the rile would hold 11 rounds of some .22 ammunition.  Older versions of the rifle advertised a magazine capacity of 11 in .22 Long Rifle, and 16 in .22 Short.



Browning Semi-Auto .22 rifle:

.22 rimfire semi-auto rifles with tubular magazines are some of the most popular sporting firearms of all time.   Changing magazine capacity of one of these rifles is not simple, because the magazine is fixed, not easily removable.  The New Jersey ban would make all of them in the state instant contraband.  Here is a list of common sporting rifles banned by the law:


Browning  Semi-Auto .22
Colt Colteer and variants
Franchi Centennial .22
Marlin model 60 and variants
Norinco ATD .22 (Browning Clone)
Remington 6A and variants
Remington Nylon 66, clones, and variants
Remington 552
Remington 550
Remington 241
Savage model 87A and variants
Winchester model 74
Winchester 190, 290 and variants

This is not an  exhaustive list.  .22 semi-auto rifles with tubular magazines are one of the most common configurations of sporting rifles ever made.  Tens of millions of them have been made, most specifically for hunting, pest control, target shooting and practice.  Over 11 million have been manufactured of the Marlin Model 60 and variants alone.  It is hard to think of a rifle that is more completely designed for "sporting purposes".  To my knowledge, they are one of the few firearms designs that was not intended as a potential military design.  

It seems that New Jersey legislators have not heard that "No one wants to ban your hunting rifle."


©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

 
Update: An amendment was added to AB 2006 before the law went to Governor Cristie.  The ban on .22 semi-autos with tubular magazines was removed from the bill.  Here is the amendment:

(4) A semi-automatic rifle with a fixed magazine capacity exceeding [15] 10 rounds. 1“Assault firearm” shall not include a semi-automatic rifle 2[with] which has2 an attached tubular device 2[designed to accept 15 rounds,] and 2which is2 capable of operating only with .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.1

and

  y.    "Large capacity ammunition magazine" means a box, drum, tube or other container which is capable of holding more than [15] 10 rounds of ammunition to be fed continuously and directly therefrom into a semi-automatic firearm. ¹The term shall not include an attached tubular device ²[designed to accept 15 rounds, and] which is² capable of ²[operating only with] holding only² .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.¹

The amended bill does not change the .22 rifles that are already banned by the previous definition.   Those include many Marlin model 60 versions, .22 short versions of the Browning semi-auto, Remington 552 rifles, Remington 550 rifles, and any other .22 rimfire with a tubular magazine that holds more than 15 rounds of .22 ammunition.