[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.]
For purposes of this chapter, the following
words and terms shall include the meanings given 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.
Anything constructed, assembled or erected on, above or under
the ground, except a fence.
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.
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.
