[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township of Robbinsville 6-15-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-21.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch.
114, Firearms, adopted by Ord. No. 96-28 (§3-14 of the 2001 Code),
as amended.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any building constructed or adapted for overnight accommodation
of a person or for operating a business, regardless of whether a person
is actually present.
Any pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, machine gun, automatic
and semiautomatic rifle or any gun, device or instrument in the nature
of a weapon from which may be fired or ejected any solid projectile,
ball, slug, pellet, missile or bullet or any gas, vapor or other noxious
thing by means of a cartridge or shell or by the action of an explosive
or the igniting of flammable or explosive substances. It shall also
include, without limitation, any firearm which is in the nature of
any air gun, spring gun or pistol or other weapon of a similar nature
in which the propelling force is a spring, elastic band, carbon dioxide,
compressed or other gas or vapor, air or compressed air, or is ignited
by compressed air, and ejecting a bullet or missile smaller than 3/8
of an inch in diameter, with sufficient force to injure a person.
It shall also include any other instrument or weapon in which a loaded
or blank cartridge, except as noted herein, is used or may be used.
It shall also, by definition, include any bow and arrow and slingshot.
Any existing public park or portion of a public park, whether
operated and/or under the control of the Township of Robbinsville
and/or the Robbinsville Board of Education, which is defined as an
open or enclosed tract of land adopted for, set apart, maintained
at public expense and/or devoted to the purposes of pleasure, recreation,
ornament and/or light and air for the general public. It shall also
include those lands established for park use pursuant to N.J.S.A.
40:12-1 et seq. and/or unimproved Township land or Township land left
in its natural state.
Any municipal or school facility/property (including day
care) where people gather for the purpose of engaging in recreation,
sport, athletic competition or physical activity, including, but not
limited to, hiking and bicycling. It shall also include such a facility
operated by an organization formed in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-43;
unimproved land or land left in its natural state that is maintained
by an organization formed in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-43 and
which surrounds such a facility operated by an organization formed
in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:55D-43 but which is not actively devoted
to the above purposes is not a playground.
A.
In order to alleviate the risk and danger posed by the carrying and discharge of firearms within the Township of Robbinsville, the Township Council hereby determines and ordains that no person, except as noted herein, shall fire or discharge any firearm or carry or transport any loaded firearm, as defined herein in § 114-1, within 450 feet of a building, park, or playground safety zone as defined by the State of New Jersey. For bow and arrows, the safety zone around buildings is 150 feet but remains 450 feet from a park or playground.
B.
No person shall fire or discharge any firearm from or across any
state, county, municipal or publicly traveled road or highway.
[Amended 12-17-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-32]
The prohibitions of § 114-2 shall not apply to those persons provided an exemption under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6 (as it exists or may be amended to exist) or any of the following:
A.
Law enforcement officers of any governmental agency, federal, state,
county and/or municipal, at all times (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6).
B.
Members of any legally recognized military organization while in
the performance of their official duties (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6).
C.
Privately employed security personnel who are authorized by law to
carry firearms while in the performance of their official duties (N.J.S.A.
2C:39-6).
D.
Persons lawfully using firearms in the protection of their person
or property for self-defense (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6).
E.
Persons engaged in the discharge of firearms loaded only with blanks
for commemorative events or historic pageants; provided, however,
that such persons shall obtain a special permit from the Township
Police Division upon application prescribed by the Director of the
Department of Public Safety or his/her designee (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6).
F.
Members of any full-time paid or part-time paid fire department or
force assigned full-time or part-time to a municipal or county arson
investigation unit (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6).
G.
Civilian employees of the state and federal government while in the
performance of their official duties (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6).
H.
Any representative of the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP), State of New Jersey, or Deputy
State Conservation Officer or full-time employee of the State Division
of Parks and Forestry or a New Jersey transit police officer while
in the performance of their official duties (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6).
I.
A guard in the employ of any railway express company, banking or
building and loan or savings and loan institution of the State of
New Jersey while in the actual performance of official duties (N.J.S.A.
2C:39-6).
J.
A campus police officer appointed pursuant to law (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6).
K.
An owner, tenant or lessee of a tract of land, including farmers,
while hunting in and upon said tract. Said tract shall not include
any public lands owned and/or controlled by the Township of Robbinsville
or other designated open spaces controlled by a homeowners'/condominium
association (N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6).
L.
An owner, tenant or lessee, the latter two having express written
and dated permission of the owner, on file with the Township Police
Division, when controlling woodchucks or other pests as legally defined,
authorized and allowed by the hunting regulations promulgated by the
Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, Department of Environmental Protection,
State of New Jersey. This subsection shall also apply to farmers (N.J.S.A.
2C:39-6).
M.
Persons lawfully participating in the New Jersey State Division of
Fish, Game and Wildlife special permit shotgun season and/or regularly
scheduled bow and firearm hunting season, either sex, provided that
said persons meet the following criteria:
(1)
Have a valid firearm hunting license, a special shotgun deer permit
and/or other permit as required by law pertaining to those seasons
mentioned above.
(2)
Have received written permission from a landowner or landowner's
agent to hunt said property and have said written permission in the
person's possession at the time of hunting.
(3)
Said persons agree to hunt from a standing tree or structure as permitted
by the New Jersey State Game Code, if requested by a landowner.
(4)
Agree to hunt only within the deer management zone designated by
the Township of Robbinsville, or the New Jersey State Division of
Fish, Game and Wildlife.
(5)
Agree to park their motor vehicles in areas designated by the landowner
(N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6).
O.
Any type of pistols capable of exploding only paper caps, blanks,
or primers, including starter pistols used in sporting or athletic
events.
P.
The firing of blanks from a firearm during a community parade or
memorial service with the prior approval of the Township Chief of
Police by special permit upon application prescribed by the Director
of the Department Public Safety.
Q.
In the event that the County of Mercer or the State of New Jersey
shall have a deer hunt within its park within the Township, then valid
New Jersey hunters shall have the right and opportunity to participate,
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 23:4-16, as may be amended, as well as rules
and regulations established by the County of Mercer or the State of
New Jersey.
R.
The firing of bow and arrow (otherwise known as archery) under the
auspices of a physical education program conducted by and/or supervised
by the Robbinsville Board of Education.
On or before January 1 of each year, the Township Administrator
shall arrange for the posting of appropriate signs on all major roads
which provide access to the Township advising the general public that
there are zones within the Township of Robbinsville where firearms
shall not be discharged. The signs shall also indicate that it shall
be necessary for any person(s) desiring to discharge firearms or to
hunt in this Township to obtain a copy of this chapter at the Robbinsville
Township Police Headquarters. In addition, the Township Administrator
and Township Clerk shall prepare and arrange for distribution of copies
of this chapter in any appropriate manner so that any person(s) desiring
to discharge firearms or hunt in this Township shall be made aware
of this chapter.
Penalties for violations of this chapter shall be pursuant to Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, General Penalty, § 1-4, and state law. The Township or other applicable governmental agencies and law enforcement personnel, including the Robbinsville Police Division, through their various authorized agents, will be responsible for enforcement of this chapter.
