10-19-09 IN THE MATTER OF ANTHONY DUBOV

DATE NAME OF CASE (DOCKET NUMBER)
10-19-09 IN THE MATTER OF ANTHONY DUBOV
A-0832-08T4
The Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Heller,
which held that the Second Amendment protects an individual
right to keep and bear arms, has no effect upon the
constitutionality of the New Jersey statute requiring a permit
to purchase a firearm. A trial court's failure to conduct a
hearing on an appeal from the denial of an application for a
firearms purchaser permit within the thirty-day period allowed
by N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(d) does not require automatic approval of
the application. The trial court erred in failing to conduct an
evidentiary hearing on an appeal from the denial of an
application for a firearms purchaser permit and instead deciding
the appeal based on evidence submitted to the court ex parte in
the form of telephone calls by the trial judge to the
applicant's former employers and an unsolicited letter submitted
after argument of the appeal that commented negatively upon the
applicant's fitness to possess a firearm.


Assistant Editor: Umair Hussain