[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Brick 5-11-1976
by Ord. No. 270-76 (Ch. 147 of the 1989 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-11-1976 by Ord. No. 270-76
(Ch. 147 of the 1989 Code)]
For purposes of this article, the following words and terms shall include
the meanings established herein:
Any gun, shotgun, rifle, pistol, revolver or other device from which
a bullet, shot, ball, slug, pellet, solid projectile or other missile, or
any gas, vapor or other noxious thing, is propelled by means of a cartridge
or shell or by the action of an explosive or the igniting of flammable or
explosive substances.
Any place designated, used or intended to be used for the discharge
of any firearms at a fixed mark or target.
It shall be unlawful to discharge or fire any firearm or to carry or
have possession of any firearm within the Township of Brick, except as specifically
provided herein.
[Amended 8-11-1987 by Ord. No. 270-A-87]
Nothing contained in this article shall be interpreted to prohibit the
use, discharge or possession of firearms by:
A.
Public officers or other persons enumerated in N.J.S.A.
2C:39-6, as amended.
B.
Persons lawfully using firearms in the defense or protection
of person or property.
C.
Persons keeping or carrying any firearms about their
residence, premises or business, or on land leased by them; or to or from
any place of purchase or repair of firearms and their residence, premises,
business or leasehold; provided, however, that they fully comply with the
appropriate sections of Title 2A of the New Jersey Revised Statutes, as amended.[1]
D.
Persons transporting any firearm while traveling directly to or from any proper hunting place, provided that such persons have in their possession a valid hunting license, or while traveling directly to or from any proper place for practice, match, target, trap or skeet shooting or shooting exhibitions; provided, however, that during the course of traveling for the purposes set forth in this Subsection D, the firearm is unloaded and contained in a closed and fastened case, gun box, securely tied package or locked in the trunk of the automobile in which the person is transporting the firearm; and provided further that the course of travel to or from such places may include such deviation as may be reasonable or necessary under the circumstances.
E.
Any farmers or fruit growers using firearms against gray
squirrels, rabbits or hares on property owned or leased by them and used for
the raising of fruit, vegetables, trees, shrubbery, nursery stock or other
produce; provided, however, that they first file a statement of their intention
to do so with the Brick Township Police Department, and provided also that
they fully comply with N.J.S.A. 23:4-9.
F.
Any persons killing crows, hawks, woodchuck and vermin
when in the act of destroying poultry, crops or property, as permitted by
N.J.S.A. 23:4-25; provided, however, that they first file a statement of their
intention to do so with the Brick Township Police Department.
G.
Owners or lessees of a tract of land consisting of 25
acres or more or persons carrying or discharging firearms upon such tracts
of land with the permission of the owner or lessee thereof, provided that
such owners, lessees or licensees shall comply with all provisions of Title
23, Fish and Game, Wild Birds and Animals, of the New Jersey Revised Statutes,
as amended.
H.
Persons engaged in hunting in or on premises adjacent
to Barnegat Bay or the Manasquan River, provided that such persons shall comply
with all provisions of Title 23, Fish and Game, Wild Birds and Animals, of
the New Jersey Revised Statutes, as amended. Hunting shall not be permitted
at any other location in the Township of Brick.
No person or persons, group, organization or association shall discharge
any firearm at any target range within the Township of Brick nor shall any
person or persons, group, organization or association operate or maintain
a target range within the Township of Brick without first having obtained
a permit for the maintenance and operation of such target range, duly issued
by the Chief of Police or his designee, as hereinafter provided.
A.
Every person maintaining and conducting a target range,
before discharging or permitting the discharge of any firearm thereon, shall
have obtained a target range permit from the Township of Brick.
B.
Applications for a target range permit shall be submitted
to the Chief of Police or his designee, on forms prescribed for that purpose,
together with a nonrefundable application fee of $25. Such application shall
set forth:
(1)
The name and address of the record owner of the real
estate upon which such target range is located and the location of the proposed
target range.
(2)
The name and address of the person or persons in charge
of and responsible for the maintenance and operation of the target range.
(3)
A description and sketch of the proposed target range,
including location of firing positions and targets, distances between targets
and between firing positions and targets, distances between targets and all
adjacent property lines and distances between firing points and all adjacent
property lines and the nature and composition of bullet stops.
(4)
The signature of the applicant or an authorized representative
thereof.
C.
The Chief of Police shall promptly cause an inspection
to be made of the real property upon which the target range is to be located
to ascertain whether such range may be used without jeopardizing the health,
safety and general welfare of the public. In the event that he finds that
such range may be operated without danger to the public, he shall forthwith
issue a target range permit to the applicant, which shall be valid for a one-year
period unless sooner revoked by the Township Council for good cause after
five days' notice and hearing, where such hearing is request by the licensee.
D.
In the event that the Chief of Police shall determine
that the proposed target range may not be operated without jeopardizing the
health, safety and general welfare of the public, he shall forthwith notify
the applicant, in writing, that the application is denied, specifying the
reasons for denial. Within 10 days of the date of such notification, the applicant
may request a hearing before the Township Council. A hearing shall be scheduled
within 30 days from the date of the request. The Council may hear any facts
which it deems relevant and shall, within 30 days, notify the applicant, in
writing, that the application is rejected or shall direct the issuance of
a permit by the Chief of Police.
A.
No person, corporation, association or organization shall
conduct any turkey shoot, firearms demonstration, shooting match or any other
event in which firearms are discharged without first having filed an application
for a permit with the Chief of Police or his designee, together with a nonrefundable
application fee of $5. Said application shall contain:
(1)
The name and address of the record owner of the real
estate upon which the event is to be conducted.
(2)
The location at which the event will be conducted.
(3)
A statement of the event, the date or dates upon which
it will be conducted and the safety precautions to be taken for the protection
of persons and property.
(4)
The signature of the applicant or an authorized representative
thereof.
B.
The Chief of Police shall issue a permit for such event
where it appears that the discharge of firearms or weapons at such event will
not endanger the safety, health or general welfare of the public.
The Business Administrator shall arrange, not less than once each year,
prior to the established hunting season, to post appropriate signs on all
major roads providing access to the Township, which signs shall advise the
general public that the possession and discharge of firearms is limited and
controlled by an ordinance of this Township.
Nothing hereinabove set forth shall be construed to permit hunting and
gunning in this municipality in violation of any of the laws of the State
of New Jersey pertaining to fish and game; and more particularly, and without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, no person shall, for the purposes
of hunting, taking or gunning any fowl or animals, have in his possession
while within 450 feet of any occupied dwelling or school playground, nor shall
any person, for the purpose of hunting, taking or killing any fowl or animals,
discharge any firearm upon or across any state, County or municipal highway
or street in such areas of the municipality where hunting is not otherwise
specifically prohibited.
[Amended 3-14-1989 by Ord. No. 666-89]
[Adopted 10-10-2006 by Ord. No. 30-06]
A.
The Mayor and Council of the Township of Brick do hereby
find that it is necessary to balance the interests of the citizens of the
Township in particular, and the State of New Jersey in general, particularly
the competing interests of sportsmen with the rights of residents to enjoy
a reasonably peaceful and tranquil lifestyle.
B.
The Mayor and Council are aware that harvesting migratory
waterfowl by sportsmen in the areas surrounding Barnegat Bay has a long and
rich history. The Mayor and Council are also ever mindful that the regulation
of hunting in general and hunting migratory waterfowl in particular is an
activity which is closely and exclusively regulated by both the state and
the federal governments.
C.
Simultaneously the Mayor and Council of Brick Township
are aware of the Township's ever-expanding population, population which
results in housing being constructed and occupied in areas which were formerly
areas which waterfowlers and other sportsmen pursued their outdoor recreational
activities. Similarly the Mayor and Council of Brick Township are cognizant
of the fact that many of the Township's new residents come from more
urban zones, areas where residents are not used to the sounds of the discharge
of firearms in the Fall and, in fact, central urban areas where the sound
of the discharge of firearms is often a sign of dangerous activities.
D.
In an effort to balance the competing interests of sportsmen
seeking to pursue outdoor recreational activities with residents who have
moved away from urban areas to the more rural areas of New Jersey, such as
the Township of Brick, the Mayor and Council of Brick Township have determined
that it is necessary to adopt this regulatory ordinance, regulating more definitively
the discharge of firearms by sportsmen who are pursuing their chosen outdoor
activity of duck hunting in such a manner as to provide the maximum sporting
enjoyment for those sportsmen while protecting and preserving the peace and
tranquility to the greatest extent possible without duly interfering with
outdoor sporting activities and in such a manner as not to create or arise
a conflict between any principles of state preemption with any municipal rights
of home rule. In an effort to foster the foregoing balancing of interests,
the Mayor and Council of Brick Township do hereby enact this article.
A.
In that area described as the lands flowed by tidewater,
therefore, owned by the State of New Jersey, on the southerly side of the
Metedeconk River which lands are also generally bounded on the south by Lot
Nos. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, and 40,
Block 680.10, as shown on the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection, Division of Coastal Resources Map showing conveyances on the Metedeconk
River, Brick Township, Ocean County, New Jersey, large tracts of state-owned
land suitable for duck hunting have been surrounded by the development of
residential properties and convenient access thereto has become limited. Said
lands are also generally described as being located on the southerly side
of the Metedeconk River east of New Jersey Route Highway 70 Bridge, extending
to the center of said river and thence in an easterly direction to the intersection
of the center line of the river with the center line of Cedar Bridge Branch
as the same would be extended in a generally easterly direction to meet the
center line of the Metedeconk River. As a result thereof, conference has been
had between the Solicitor for Brick Township, the Brick Township Prosecutor,
the Brick Township Police Department, the Counsel for New Jersey Waterfowlers
Association and the State of New Jersey, Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife.
Although the Township of Brick recognizes that the regulation of hunting and
the harvesting of wildlife is, by law, solely with the jurisdiction of the
New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, at the same time the New Jersey
Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife has expressed concern over the problems
facing New Jersey sportsmen and facing Brick Township as a result of duck
hunting in the above-described areas.
B.
After consultation with the Director of the New Jersey
Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, Counsel for the Township and Counsel
for the New Jersey Waterfowlers Association, this article has been prepared
as a joint endeavor and prior to its introduction has been approved and reviewed
by the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, Brick Township's Solicitor,
the Brick Township Police Department, the Brick Township Prosecutor's
Office and Counsel for the New Jersey Waterfowlers Association and is enacted
to effectuate and foster an even balance between the interests of hunters
and nonhunters in the above-described area.
A.
Limitation on number of hunters. The number of hunters
in the described area pursuing ducks shall not be permitted to exceed four
on any given day.
B.
Registration of hunters. Any duck hunter desiring to
pursue ducks in the described area shall register with the Brick Township
Police Department, who shall provide a mechanism for recording the number
of registered hunters on any given day. Any hunter desiring to register shall
pay a fee of $5 per day to cover administrative expenses in the Brick Township
Police Department.
C.
Limitation on parking. No more than four motor vehicles
and boat trailers shall be permitted to park in the vicinity of the boat ramp
located at Glenwood Avenue on any given day. The owners and operators of such
vehicles shall have applied for and received the above-described permit from
the Brick Township Police Department for the day on which the vehicles and
trailers are parked in the vicinity of the boat ramp located at Glenwood Avenue.
All duck hunters pursuing the sport of duck hunting in the described
area shall pursue the same in accordance with all state and federal laws and
regulations governing the shooting of waterfowl.
