Tasers and stun guns are legal to own and carry in New Jersey. A 2017 federal court order struck down the state’s blanket ban as unconstitutional, and possession is now governed by administrative rules rather than criminal statute. You have to be at least 18, you cannot have certain criminal convictions or a disqualifying mental-health history, and using the device outside genuine self-defense can send you to state prison.
Why the Ban No Longer Applies
Until 2017, carrying any stun gun in New Jersey was a fourth-degree crime punishable by up to 18 months in prison.1Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:39-3 – Prohibited Weapons and Devices In New Jersey Second Amendment Society v. Porrino, a federal court entered a consent order declaring N.J.S.A. 2C:39-3(h) unconstitutional and unenforceable. The same order blocked enforcement of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-9(d), which had criminalized selling or shipping the devices in the state.2Washington Post (hosted court document). NJ Second Amendment Society v. Porrino – Consent Order
One quirk to know about: the legislature never removed the old ban from the statute books. Pull up 2C:39-3(h) today and it still reads as a criminal prohibition. The devices are lawful because the court order overrides that language, and because New Jersey adopted administrative regulations under N.J.A.C. 13:54 to govern possession, sale, and age limits. It’s a patchwork rather than a clean rewrite, but the practical answer is settled: you can own one.
“Stun gun” in New Jersey covers any device that emits an electrical charge or current intended to disable a person. That includes both direct-contact stun guns and projectile Taser devices.
Who Can Legally Own One
Age
You must be at least 18. The administrative code bars anyone under 18 from possessing a stun gun and prohibits selling, giving, or transferring one to a minor.3Legal Information Institute. N.J. Admin. Code 13:54-5.8 – Possession of a Stun Gun by a Minor Adults who leave a loaded stun gun accessible to a child under 16 in their home can face a disorderly persons offense if the child gets hold of it.
Criminal and Mental-Health Disqualifiers
N.J.S.A. 2C:39-7 bars certain people from possessing any weapon, and stun guns fall within that ban. Disqualifying convictions include aggravated assault, arson, burglary, escape, extortion, homicide, kidnapping, robbery, sexual assault, bias intimidation, carjacking, gang criminality, racketeering, terroristic threats, endangering the welfare of a child, prior unlawful possession of a machine gun, handgun, or assault firearm, and certain controlled dangerous substance offenses above the disorderly-persons level. Attempt and conspiracy count too.4Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:39-7 – Certain Persons Not to Have Weapons or Ammunition
Anyone who has been committed for a mental disorder to a hospital or institution is also barred, unless a licensed New Jersey physician or psychiatrist certifies that they no longer suffer from a condition that interferes with safe handling of a weapon.4Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:39-7 – Certain Persons Not to Have Weapons or Ammunition
Buying One
No permit required. Unlike a handgun, a stun gun does not need a Firearms Purchaser Identification Card or a purchase permit. Retail regulations set the buyer age at 18 and stop there; there is no state-imposed background check on the sale itself.5Justia. N.J. Admin. Code 13:54-1.3 – State of New Jersey Firearms Identification Card or Permit to Purchase You can buy from a licensed dealer or from an online retailer that ships to New Jersey.
Where You Can and Cannot Carry
New Jersey does not issue a carry permit for stun guns, and none is required to carry one for lawful personal use. Carrying is not unlimited, though.
Schools are the clearest off-limits zone. Bringing any weapon onto school, college, or university grounds without written authorization from the institution’s governing officer is a crime. For stun guns and other non-firearm weapons, that is a fourth-degree offense.6Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:39-5 – Unlawful Possession of Weapons
Beyond schools, New Jersey has a catch-all: possessing “any other weapon under circumstances not manifestly appropriate for such lawful uses as it may have” is also a fourth-degree crime.6Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:39-5 – Unlawful Possession of Weapons The standard is fact-specific and gives prosecutors wide discretion. Carrying a stun gun in your bag while walking through town for personal protection is a lawful use. Bringing one into a courthouse, a bar where trouble is brewing, or a protest is the kind of context that can be charged as not manifestly appropriate. Err on the side of caution in sensitive locations.
Private property owners can also prohibit weapons on their premises. A posted business or building can support a trespassing charge on top of any weapons issue.
When You Can Actually Use It
New Jersey law lets you use force in self-defense when you reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect yourself against unlawful force.7FindLaw. New Jersey Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:3-4 – Use of Force Justifiable for Protection of the Person Two limits shape when you can actually deploy a stun gun.
Retreat First
New Jersey is not a stand-your-ground state. If you can avoid deadly force by retreating with complete safety, you are required to do so. The exception is your own home: no duty to retreat under the castle doctrine, as long as you were not the initial aggressor.7FindLaw. New Jersey Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:3-4 – Use of Force Justifiable for Protection of the Person Whether a stun gun qualifies as deadly force in a given incident depends on the facts, so treating it as a serious use of force and retreating first when you safely can is the approach least likely to end in charges.
Proportional to the Threat
Force has to match the threat. Using a stun gun to stop a physical attack or imminent assault is generally reasonable. Using one against someone who insulted you or shoved past you is not. Deploying it when force wasn’t justified at all is how a victim ends up as the defendant. Using a stun gun for intimidation, revenge, or in the course of a crime is illegal regardless of context and brings separate weapons charges.
What You Face for Getting It Wrong
Weapons offenses are graded by degree, and the penalties climb quickly.
Prohibited person in possession. If you are barred under 2C:39-7 and are caught with a stun gun, that is a fourth-degree crime carrying up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.8Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:43-3 – Fines and Restitutions If your disqualifying conviction was one of the more serious offenses listed in subsection (b) of the statute, the charge rises to a third-degree crime with a prison range of three to five years.4Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:39-7 – Certain Persons Not to Have Weapons or Ammunition
Possession for an unlawful purpose. Holding a non-firearm weapon with intent to use it unlawfully against a person or property is a third-degree crime carrying three to five years.9Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:39-4 – Possession of Weapons for Unlawful Purposes This is the charge that attaches when a stun gun is used during a robbery, assault, or similar offense.
Restricted-location possession. Carrying on school or university property without authorization, or carrying elsewhere under circumstances not manifestly appropriate, is a fourth-degree crime with the same 18-month/$10,000 exposure.6Justia. New Jersey Revised Statutes Title 2C Section 2C:39-5 – Unlawful Possession of Weapons
Assault. Using a stun gun on someone when self-defense doesn’t apply also opens the door to assault charges. Simple assault is a disorderly persons offense. If the shock causes serious bodily injury or is used with extreme indifference to human life, the charge can rise to third- or fourth-degree aggravated assault.
Crossing State Lines
Stun guns and Tasers are allowed in checked airline baggage only, never in a carry-on, and they have to be packed so they cannot accidentally discharge. Lithium-battery models also have to meet FAA battery rules.10Transportation Security Administration. Stun Guns/Shocking Devices
The bigger risk is your destination. State laws differ sharply. New York, for example, still has a criminal statute prohibiting electronic stun guns on the books; a federal court declared it unconstitutional in 2019, but the legislature never repealed it and at least one state court has ruled the federal decision is not binding on New York state courts. Assuming the federal ruling settled the question there can result in a criminal charge. Check the current law of the destination state before you cross a line with a stun gun in the car.