I guess they are worried you'll shoot your eye out...

My coworkers, several of whom are shooting enthusiasts, have often complained about Maryland gun laws - pistols require a 7-day wait, and concealed carry permits are pretty much impossible to get unless you know someone.

But evidently NJ's are even more ridiculous. I saw this article on the front cover of a local newspaper at my parent's house. It concerns a recently-passed law that has unintended consequences. The law makes it illegal to be in possession of an illegal gun, with a penalty of several years in jail, even if no crime was being committed with the gun. What puzzled me was that the case the article highlights concerned a 20 year old who was stopped with a BB gun.

It turns out that in NJ, a BB gun requires a permit to possess - possession of the pellet gun is still a crime that can theoretically bring three to five years in prison, but rarely means incarceration for first-time offenders. Past offenders would likely see several months of jail at most.

It seems hard to believe that BB guns are so dangerous as to require not only a permit to possess, but jail time as a penalty to possess. Maryland's laws - where you can buy a rifle or shotgun, as well as BB gun, without any sort of permit - seem downright reasonable compared to the Garden State.