New Jersey Democrat lawmakers are responding to the Third Circuit ruling that struck down the state’s “assault weapons” ban by pledging more gun control.
Breitbart News reported that the Third Circuit’s ruling was handed down on July 17, 2026. In that ruling, the majority made clear that the state’s ban failed to survive the Bruen (2022) test, which is a two-tiered test examining the historicity and tradition of firearms and firearms regulation in America.
Politico noted that N.J. Democrats’ response to the ruling is to find a way “to maneuver around an unfavorable legal precedent and put newly reworked restrictions in place.”
For example, Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D) is pledging to pursue a new control that would “mandate gun owners store their firearms unloaded and locked inside their homes.”
Greenwald said of the gun control, “[It’s] the next thing I’m looking to do,” adding, “The major cause of injury in someone’s home is through a gun that is stored improperly.”
Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R) expressed concern that there could be flood of new gun controls from N.J. Democrats that will absorb lawmakers’ time, preventing them from dealing with other issues: “We’re constantly wasting time, energy, money focused on things that are settled business….The ruling happened, it’s the ruling. They can challenge it. But what I don’t want to see them do is throw all kinds of bills against the wall to see what sticks.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
