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The suit filed by Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal against Nevada-based New Frontier Armory LLC alleges that the company sold six LCMs to undercover investigators, including a 100-round magazine.
“Large capacity magazines are dangerous and have been disproportionately used in mass shootings, which is why they are illegal in New Jersey,” Grewal said.
NOTE: Following a hearing Wednesday, state Superior Court Judge Jodi Lee Alper issued a restraining order in Newark prohibiting New Frontier Armory "from selling LCMs to consumers in New Jersey, whether through defendant’s website or otherwise.” The judge also set the next hearing in the case for July 15.
LCMs allow a shooter to fire what Grewal called “an unusually high number” of rounds at a time “without requiring the shooter to even pause and reload.”
“As a result, violence that involves LCMs can result in more shots fired, persons wounded, and wounds per victim than other gun attacks,” he said.
“We warned New Frontier Armory that we had zero tolerance for their sale of unlawful magazines in our state,” Grewal added, “but they sold a 100-round magazine to our undercover investigator anyway. So we are suing New Frontier Armory for its illegal sales, and we’re going to seek the maximum civil penalties.
“This lawsuit should be a warning to the industry: if you sell deadly and unlawful firearms or magazines into New Jersey, we’re going to take action against you too,” he said.
The State’s three-count complaint against New Frontier Armory includes two counts of violating New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act and one count of violating state regulations governing illegal products.
The complaint alleges that 27 of the 30 magazines New Frontier Armory offered for sale in New Jersey could hold 15 to 100 rounds of ammunition, in violation of state law, which prohibits the possession and sale of firearm magazines that are capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Among other things, it seeks “immediate relief” to bar New Frontier Armory from advertising, offering for sale or selling LCMs to New Jersey residents.
It also asks a judge to order the company to relinquish profits from the illegal sales and post “a clear statement” on its website that LCMs are unlawful in New Jersey.
New Frontier Armory operates a walk-in retail store in North Las Vegas and sells firearms and related equipment and supplies online.
Grewal sent the company a cease-and-desist letter in January demanding that it stop advertising, selling and/or shipping LCMs to New Jersey.
Two weeks later, the retailer responded that it had “notified our distribution center staff of your current New Jersey law,” the attorney general said.
On May 23, an undercover state investigator bought a 100-round magazine, a 30-round magazine, and a 15-round magazine from New Frontier Armory online, the complaint alleges.
Six days later, the state investigator picked up the purchased LCMs at a New Jersey shipping address, it says.
New Frontier Armory had also previously sold three LCMs to an undercover state investigator, bringing the total number of LCMs illegally sold by New Frontier Armory to investigators to six, Grewal said.
New Frontier Armory “engaged in unconscionable commercial practices and deception” by advertising and selling LCMs “despite knowing that their sale is illegal in New Jersey and without warning New Jersey purchasers that possession of LCMs subjects the buyer to criminal prosecution,” he said.
The lawsuit also alleges that New Frontier Armory engaged in “misrepresentations and knowing omissions of material fact” by “falsely stating on its website that it would cancel any order that involved shipping LCMs to areas where they are illegal, and by failing to provide a disclaimer on its website cautioning that possession of an LCM by a New Jersey resident is a crime,” the complaint says.
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