Unlawful Possession of a Weapon Lawyer in Edison and New Brunswick, Middlesex County

Reviewed by William A. Proetta, Esq. · Updated October 2026

Unlawful possession of a weapon is charged under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5, and the grade depends on what the weapon was. A handgun carried without a permit to carry is a 2nd-degree crime (5 to 10 years) and a Graves Act offense with a mandatory parole bar, while a rifle or shotgun held without a firearms purchaser identification card is 3rd degree and excluded from the Graves minimum, and a knife or club held in suspicious circumstances is 4th degree.

Apart from a disorderly persons count for an imitation gun at a school, these charges are indictable. Whether the arrest happened in Woodbridge, Old Bridge or Piscataway, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office reviews the complaint, and any trial takes place at the Superior Court courthouse in New Brunswick. We defend gun and weapon possession charges from our Edison office. Over 15-plus years of trying cases I have represented many clients who never imagined a gun charge: a licensed visitor, a homeowner, a driver who forgot a case in the trunk.

What the State Has to Prove

For a firearm count, the prosecutor must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that:

1. The item was a firearm within N.J.S.A. 2C:39-1(f). A gun counts even if unloaded. An air or spring gun counts only if its projectile is smaller than 3/8 inch and able to injure.
2. The defendant possessed it, either on the body or constructively, meaning he knew where it was and intended to control it.
3. The possession was knowing. Someone unaware of a gun under the seat or in a borrowed bag has not committed the crime.
4. The required license was missing: a permit to carry for a handgun, a purchaser card for a long gun.

Under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-2(b), a person is presumed not to hold a permit until he shows otherwise, so producing it falls to the defense. Section 2C:39-2(a) adds a presumption for cars: a weapon in the cabin is presumed to belong to every occupant unless it is on one person’s body, and a gun hidden in a closed glove box or trunk of a car that is not stolen is presumed to belong to the owner or whoever is authorized to drive it. We test those presumptions against fingerprints, DNA and who actually used the car.

Grades of Unlawful Possession, Most Serious First

The fine ceiling is $200,000 at 1st degree, $150,000 at 2nd, $15,000 at 3rd and $10,000 at 4th. The school-property firearm count applies even to a permit holder without the school’s written authorization. The assault-firearm ban is being challenged in federal court; this area can change quickly, so get current advice.

Two provisions raise the floor. Under 2C:39-5(i), a finding of organized criminal activity on a machine gun, handgun or assault firearm count requires a fixed five-year parole bar. And a gun shared within a group for criminal use can bring a “community gun” count with its own minimum, covered on our page on possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

The Graves Act and Other Consequences

A Graves conviction requires a parole bar of one-half of the sentence or 42 months, whichever is greater, so a first 2nd-degree handgun conviction normally means at least three and a half years before parole eligibility. The exit is a waiver under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.2: the prosecutor moves before the assignment judge, who may impose probation or a one-year parole bar. The Attorney General’s guidance treats a one-year waiver offer as the usual starting point for qualifying defendants, and State v. Taylor (N.J. Aug. 6, 2025) holds that a refusal to waive is reviewed for ordinary abuse of discretion. Our Graves Act guide walks through the formula, the exclusions and the waiver. The 2026 law allowing sentencing one degree lower has not, in practice, changed the Graves floor.

• Firearm rights. A conviction for any crime disqualifies a person from a purchaser card or handgun permit under N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(c)(1); federal law can add its own bar.
• No intensive supervision. Section 2C:39-5(h) closes the Intensive Supervision Program after machine gun, handgun, assault firearm and prior-offender convictions, air pistols excepted.
• Immigration. Federal law treats many firearm convictions as a separate deportation ground, so a non-citizen needs immigration advice before pleading.
• Expungement. No weapons offense is on the expungement bar list; ordinary waiting periods apply once the sentence is finished.

How Gun Possession Cases Move in Middlesex County

Gun cases here often begin with a Turnpike, Parkway, Route 1 or I-287 stop, or a call to a home in Edison or Woodbridge. Even a lawful owner with a clean record is normally charged on a complaint-warrant rather than a summons. The person stays at the Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick until a virtual first appearance, held Monday through Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Release is its own fight. Simple handgun possession is left out of the 2022 law that directs Pretrial Services to recommend no release for most Graves firearm offenses, so a lawful owner usually has good release arguments. With an illegal street gun, prosecutors routinely move to detain, and avoiding detention can be very hard. Our page on first appearance and detention hearings explains that hearing.

The MCPO then screens the file and presents it to a grand jury. For visitors, the office looks closely at whether the gun was carried in a way that was legal at home and under federal transport rules; if anything about the trip is questionable, it normally will not consent to PTI. See our page on out-of-state gun owners. For residents, the strongest early leverage is often a suppression motion, because a gun found in an unlawful search cannot come into evidence.

PTI and Plea Options

A 2nd-degree handgun charge carries a presumption of imprisonment and a mandatory minimum, so the prosecutor must consent before the defendant can even be considered for Pretrial Intervention, and admission requires a guilty plea held inactive during the program. File no later than the Initial Case Disposition Conference that follows arraignment. On 3rd- and 4th-degree counts, such as a long gun without a card, admission turns on the prosecutor’s recommendation. Our Middlesex PTI page covers the application.

Defenses to a 2C:39-5 Charge

• The search. A warrantless car search needs probable cause arising from unforeseeable and spontaneous circumstances, and consent must be voluntary. A motion to suppress can end the case; our guide to car searches explains the roadside rules.
• Knowledge and control. In shared cars and apartments, we answer the 2C:39-2 presumption with the facts of who controlled the space.
• Home and business. N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6(e) lets a person keep a firearm at his residence, business or land and carry it between home and business, from a place of purchase or to a repair shop; under 2C:39-6(g) it must travel unloaded in a closed and fastened case, gunbox or locked trunk with only reasonably necessary stops. Hunters, licensed anglers and rifle club members have a parallel exemption in 2C:39-6(f).
• Self-defense at home. State v. Montalvo, 229 N.J. 300 (2017), held that the “spontaneous arming” limit used for weapons carried in public does not apply to a lawful weapon kept at home for self-defense. That ruling shapes any 2C:39-5(d) case over a machete, bat or knife in a residence; see our page on knives and other weapons.

Speak With a Middlesex County Gun Charge Lawyer

Say nothing to police about where the gun came from or why you had it, and keep the arrest off social media. Reach our Edison office any hour at (732) 659-9600, or write to us and we will respond promptly.