The state claims a person bought this 1,000-round box of ammunition in cash without showing ID from Point Blank Guns and Ammo. (Photo via lawsuit filed by Attorney General’s Office)
Two New Jersey gun stores sold thousands of rounds of AR-15 rifle ammunition for cash without checking for identification or permits, new lawsuits filed by the state allege.
Attorney General Matt Platkin announced the two civil suits against Butch’s Gun World in Vineland and Point Blank Guns and Ammo in East Hanover during a press conference Wednesday highlighting the statewide firearms enforcement office, which Platkin oversees.
The sales were made to undercover investigators who never showed they could legally possess a firearm and used cash without showing any IDs, Platkin said. That’s a violation of a 2022 law stating gun stores have a reasonable obligation to avoid selling gun products to those who cannot legally possess a firearm, including people with domestic violence restraining orders.
“In short, they made no effort whatsoever to comply with our laws, the very laws that keep our residents safe, and that have allowed us to drive violence down in our communities to historically low levels,” Platkin said. “In fact, these stores treated the sale of 1,000 rounds of highly lethal ammunition — the kind we see in mass shootings across this country — like they were selling nothing more than a loaf of bread.”
The cases were filed in state Superior Court in Morris County and Cumberland County.
The state claims Point Blank Guns and Ammo in East Hanover violated the law in May when selling handgun ammunition and again that month when selling a 1,000-round case of .223 caliber rifle ammunition to two separate first-time customers who didn’t show identification, a permit, or credentials.
At Butch’s Gun World in Vineland, a person bought a 20-round box of AR-15 ammunition and bought a 10-round pistol magazine they found on a wall display, paying cash and not showing any verification, one of the lawsuits alleges. Another purchase was made by a second person in June who bought more cases of ammunition in cash without showing identification.
In both cases, the Attorney General’s Office wants a judge to force the stores to abide by a requirement that gun and ammunition buyers must show a valid firearms purchaser identification card, handgun carry permit, and valid ID.
The owner of the East Hanover store, who identified himself as Nicky, said he had no idea the state had filed suit against his store.
“Nothing like that goes on here,” he said. “We’ve barely been open a year.”
Calls to Butch’s Gun World went unanswered.
Platkin said he will not allow businesses to profit “off of bloodshed.”
“With today’s lawsuits, we’re once again reminding them that we will hold you accountable if you put our residents at risk. I simply will not tolerate lax and reckless business practices in the firearms industry or any industry that makes our residents unsafe,” he said.
He also promised to go after the incoming Trump administration if it violates the law.
“We protected common sense and entirely constitutional gun safety protections that keep our residents safe,” he said “As we sit in one of the safest states in the country when it comes to gun violence, there are kids in this city and across our state who drink water that doesn’t have lead in it and who breathe air free from contamination because of lawsuits that we file to protect common sense environmental regulations. And I could go on.”
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