Gun-rights groups file suit claiming New Jersey bans everyday self-defense tools

Gun-rights advocates, led by the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs Inc. and Knife Rights Inc., have launched a federal lawsuit against New Jersey officials, asserting that the state’s broad weapons definition effectively bans ordinary objects such as baseball bats, sticks, knives and scissors for personal protection. The complaint targets a 2022 statute, Chapter 131, enacted shortly after the Supreme Court’s Bruen ruling that recognized a right to carry handguns in public.

Plaintiffs argue the law’s wording—“anything readily capable of lethal use or inflicting serious bodily injury”—is overly expansive and conflicts with constitutional precedent. Specific plaintiffs, including Wendy Copenhaver, Wayne Viden, Salvatore Marsilla and Walter Everard Jr., request permission to carry larger pepper-spray canisters, a collapsible baton and a switchblade knife respectively. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said it will fight the case, maintaining that the restrictions keep residents safe. The lawsuit also references a 1990 state Supreme Court decision involving a single mother who used a carpet cutter for self-defense, labeling that ruling as “unconscionable.”