Big win for NJ gun owners

Good morning!

A federal appeals court delivered a major win to New Jersey gun owners on Friday, ruling that the state’s nearly 40-year-old ban on certain semiautomatic weapons is unconstitutional.

The state’s ban on magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition also violates the constitution, the court said.

Trump appointee Judge Paul Matey dinged New Jersey for its “repeated and relentless assault on the Second Amendment,” saying state attorneys have “at every turn have turned a blind eye to the Constitution while prioritizing histrionics over history.”

“New Jersey’s blunderbuss legislation is now, as it was the last three trips to this Court, unconstitutional,” Matey wrote.

Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), who supports gun restrictions, called the ruling a “misguided, calculated attack on public safety and common sense firearm restrictions.”

“Any reasonable person understands that weapons of war have no place in a civil society,” he said on Saturday. “No child deserves to be gunned down in a classroom, no grandparent should be targeted while shopping for groceries, and no first responder should have to witness the devastation these weapons inflict on innocent people. Protecting our communities should always take precedence over expanding access to weapons designed for mass killing.

The same appeals court is mulling a decision on a much newer New Jersey gun law, one that restricts where gun owners can bring their firearms. Friday’s ruling should make gun rights advocates much more optimistic about their chances.

Read more from Dana DiFilippo.

Education: Public school enrollment is at its lowest levels in nearly 25 years, according to data recently released by state education officials. The drop appeared driven mostly by lower birth rates, though other factors like higher private school enrollment, immigration enforcement, and population shifts could play a role.  “It’s like a giant clock with a lot of moving parts, but it adds up to enrollment declines. And since state aid is tied to enrollment, it’s going to have an effect,” said Betsy Ginsburg, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools. “It’s already having an effect. It’s going to have an even bigger effect.”

Transpo: New e-bike regulations are now in effect thanks to a law signed in January by then-Gov. Phil Murphy before he left office. The law reclassifies e-bikes into two categories and requires registration for all of them and liability insurance for higher-speed bikes. As of July 15, the state had issued more than 4,100 e-bike registrations and 250 e-bike permits.

World Cup: The World Cup final was Sunday — Spain won; say a prayer for our own Sophie Nieto-Muñoz — which means the great state of New York New Jersey is no longer. RIP.