Benton v Platkin

NJ & Federal Gun Laws and Activism New Jersey Gun Laws Discussion
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On Tuesday, June 18, the Coalition of New Jersey Firearms Owners(CNJFO), Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation, along with private plaintiff Christian Benton, filed what will likely be one of the most important Second Amendment lawsuits brought against the state in decades. The case is known as Benton v. Platkin.

The suit was filed in the United States District Court in the District of New Jersey against New Jersey Attorney General, Matthew Platkin, and Phil Olivo, Chief of the Pennsauken Police Department.

The suit challenges many prohibitions, license and permit schemes, exorbitant fees and waiting periods that New Jersey gun owners have faced for decades, making New Jersey one of the hardest states in which to exercise Second Amendment rights.

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Courtlistener docket for Benton V. Platkin:

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68866290/benton-v-platkin/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc

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Oral Arguments scheduled for 03/28/2025 11 AM in Camden:

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A post was merged into an existing topic: New CNJFO led lawsuit to overturn hollow point ammo ban

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CNJFO Press Release

[April 2, 2025] - Sewell, NJ – In a surprising move that has even the attorneys for the Defendants scratching their heads, United States District Judge Karen M. Williams issued an order dismissing without prejudice, the case known as Benton v Platkin. The case is a challenge to New Jersey’s requirement that every potential, and current, gunowner is required to apply for a Permit to Purchase a Handgun (“P2P”) for each and every handgun purchase. The issuance of the P2P is frequently delayed by as much as 90 days beyond the statutory 30 day shall issue deadline and has been made obsolete and redundant by the federal NICS requirement which became law under The Brady Bill in 1993. In addition to the P2P issues, the case also challenges New Jersey’s handgun rationing scheme known as One-Gun-Per-Month (“OGAM”), which restricts the number of handguns that can be purchased in a 30 day period. Filed in June 2024, the case is a collaboration between CNJFO and GOA as plaintiffs, along with Mark Cheeseman and Jay Factor.

In a short, opinion-less order Judge Williams states:

“IT Is on this 31st day of March, 2025 hereby ORDERED that Defendant Olivo’s Motion to dismiss, (ECF No. 19), and Defendant Platkin’s Motion to Dismiss, (ECF No. 20), are hereby GRANTED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”

https://storage.courtlistener.com/…/gov.uscourts.njd…

The published order cited seems to be at conflict with the oral order read in Court. At that time, when pressed for clarification, Judge Williams confirmed that the dismissal included all counts and that she was ruling sua sponte on the OGAM count that was not part of either defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. This leaves open the still pending Motion to Consolidate Benton v Platkin with Struck v Platkin, a case brought by the Firearms Policy Coalition which also challenges New Jersey’s OGAM rationing scheme.

We are currently consulting with our attorneys to seek further clarification on Judge Williams’ order and to determine what our next step will be. Over the next few days we will be receiving a complete transcript of the oral arguments, parts of which are Judge William’s reading from her “opinion,” which was seemingly prepared prior to the beginning of oral arguments. Stay tuned as this promises to be one for the record books.

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So would this mean no more permits to purchase hand guns , Just go buy what you want with no permit just a Nics check

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Yeah, if the case hadn’t just been dismissed by the judge and we won it and also won all the appeals that NJ would of course file.

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