[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Harding 12-12-1967 by Ord. No. 3-67 (Ch. 75 of the 1990 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Noise — See Ch. 258.
Peace and good order — See Ch. 285.
For purposes of this chapter, the following words and terms shall include the meanings given herein:
FIREARM
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.
STRUCTURE
Anything constructed, assembled or erected on, above or under the ground, except a fence.
WEAPON
Any firearm, air rifle, bow of 35 pounds or more pull, slingshot, spring gun or similar device or instrument in the nature of a weapon in which the propelling force is a spring, elastic band, carbon dioxide, compressed or other gas, or vapor or compassed air, or is discharged by compressed air, and ejecting a bullet or missile with sufficient force to injure a person.
WRITTEN PERMISSION
Includes written permission granted by a landowner to a game protective association or a gun club, provided that the person using, discharging or possessing the firearm has in his possession valid evidence of his membership in good standing in such association or club.
[Added 1-14-1975 by Ord. No. 8-74]
Except as provided in § 177-3 of this chapter, no person shall, at any time:
A. 
Use, discharge or fire any firearm or weapon or carry, transport or possess any loaded firearm or weapon within 450 feet of a structure unless the structure is owned or leased by said person or a member of his immediate family (i.e., within two degrees of consanguinity) or unless the person has in his possession written permission of the owner, which permission states the duration of its effectiveness.
B. 
Use, discharge or fire any firearm or weapon or carry, transport or possess any loaded firearm or weapon within 100 feet of a public highway, street or road.
C. 
Use, discharge or fire any firearm or weapon in the direction of any public highway, street or road unless the person is more than 450 feet from such public highway, street or road.
D. 
Use, discharge or fire any firearm or weapon in the direction of any driveway or private road unless the person is more than 450 feet from such driveway or private road or unless the driveway is owned or leased by said person or a member of his immediate family (i.e., within two degrees of consanguinity) or unless the person has in his possession written permission of the owner, which permission states the duration of its effectiveness.
E. 
Use, discharge or fire any firearm or weapon or carry, transport or possess any loaded firearm or weapon for the purpose of practice, match, target, trap or skeet shooting or shooting exhibitions with firearms or weapons, unless he has the written approval of the Harding Township Police Department. Such approval shall be requested in writing to the Police Department, which shall inspect the premises and advise the applicant of the decision on the application within two weeks of receipt of such request. Permission shall be granted or denied on the basis of safety. Where permission is denied, the Police Department shall furnish the applicant with a written statement of the reasons for the denial. Where permitted, shooting shall be confined to an area shown on a sketch, a copy of which shall be given to the applicant. The sketch shall indicate the location of the person shooting, the direction and angle of the permissible shooting and the location of the target area. The sketch shall also indicate all structures and unusual topographic features within 450 feet of the approved shooting site. Permission shall be limited to designated types of shooting and designated types of firearms or weapons. Permission may be denied where the Police Department determines that the applicant does not possess sufficient property of his own so that projectiles discharged in the use of the target range will fall in a safe location or where the applicant does not possess written permission of a neighbor whose safety may be jeopardized by the use of the target range. The Police Department shall have the right to investigate the knowledge and skill of the applicant in the use of firearms or weapons and to impose reasonable conditions on the approval, such as requiring backstops and other safety features and requiring that the range not be used except under the supervision of one of the named applicants. Permission shall remain in effect until such time as conditions change so as to make use of the target range unsafe; for example, (but not limited to) when a structure owned by someone other than the applicant is built in a location which makes shooting on the approved shooting site unsafe. Approval may be revoked by the Harding Township Police Department upon the Department's finding a misuse of the approval or noncompliance with conditions of the approval. Any person or entity aggrieved by a decision of the Police Department may appeal such decision by writing to the Township Committee, which shall then conduct a hearing on such appeal, after written notice to all interested parties, and shall determine the appeal within 35 days of its receipt.
[Amended 1-14-1975 by Ord. No. 8-74]
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be interpreted to prohibit the use, discharge or possession of firearms or weapons by:
A. 
Public officers or other persons enumerated in N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6, as amended.
[Amended 1-14-1975 by Ord. No. 8-74]
B. 
Persons lawfully using firearms and weapons in the defense or protection of person or property.
C. 
Persons carrying, possessing or transporting firearms in compliance with Chapter 39 (entitled "Firearms, Other Dangerous Weapons and Instruments of Crime") and Chapter 58 (entitled "Licensing and Other Provisions Relating to Firearms") of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes Annotated, as amended and supplemented.
[Amended 1-14-1975 by Ord. No. 8-74]
D. 
Hunters lawfully complying with the requirements and provisions of Title 23 of the New Jersey Statutes Annotated, as amended, or any rules and regulations promulgated thereunder; provided, however, that hunting activities shall not be conducted in violation of the provisions of § 177-2 of this chapter.
E. 
Persons transporting any firearm or weapon 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, the firearm or weapon is unloaded and contained in a closed and fastened case, gunbox, securely tied package or locked in the trunk of the automobile in which the person is transporting the firearm or weapon; and provided, further, that the course of travel to or from such places may include such deviations as may be reasonable or necessary under the circumstances.
F. 
Any farmers or fruit growers using firearms or weapons 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 Harding Township Police Department; and provided, also, that they fully comply with N.J.S.A. 23:4-9.
G. 
Any person 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 Harding Township Police Department.
H. 
Any owner or lessee of any land, a portion of which is pasture fields seeded with cultivated grass or land on which planted crops are growing, or the authorized agents of the owner or lessee of such land, having on their person a written permit issued by the Division of Fish, Game and Shell Fisheries in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and countersigned by the owner or lessee, or in accordance with N.J.S.A. 23:4-42, and killing any deer that may be found on that land during the period covered by the permit, provided, however, that they first file a statement of their intention to do so with the Harding Township Police Department.
This chapter shall have no force or effect within the boundaries of the lands owned by the United States of America in the Township of Harding.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 4-7.5, which immediately followed this section, was repealed 1-14-1975 by Ord. No. 8-74.