Federal judge temporarily lifts New Jersey's restrictions on carrying guns in parks, casinos

A federal judge has temporarily blocked more of New Jersey's law restricting firearms from being carried in some sensitive areas such as public parks and casinos after she issued another order earlier this month blocking other sections of the law.

U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb, a George W. Bush appointee, issued a two-page order Monday temporarily lifting the law's blanket ban on carrying firearms on beaches and in public parks and casinos.

She issued an order earlier this month blocking parts of the new law that restricted how firearms are carried in vehicles and prohibited guns from being carried in public libraries, museums, entertainment facilities, some private properties and places that serve alcohol, Politico reported. That order remains in effect.

In her ruling, Bumb said the gun rights groups did not have standing to challenge restrictions on carrying firearms in medical facilities, zoos, movie sets and airports. She also denied a request to block the ban on carrying guns on playgrounds, which she said were similar to schools.

"We plan to aggressively seek to add more places to the list of restrictions we have successfully challenged," the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, one of the plaintiffs, said after Bumb's ruling Monday.

Gun rights groups originally filed the lawsuit in December after Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy signed the law in response to the Supreme Court's ruling expanding who could carry firearms in public.

Bumb's ruling remains in effect pending another hearing in the case.