Acting on a lawsuit by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, a state Superior Court judge issued an injunction against a Vineland gun shop that Platkin had accused of selling ammunition to buyers without checking whether they were permitted to possess firearms.

The ruling against Butch’s Gun World in Vineland was made July 22 by Judge Robert Malestein, who sits on the Cumberland/Gloucester/Salem County Superior Court. Platkin filed the suit last November.

Platkin said the shop had sold more than 1,000 rounds of AR-15 ammunition and other gun-related products in cash to undercover investigators without ascertaining whether they had documentation that proved they could own guns.

“The judge found that the store had no safeguards in place to stop it from selling to people prohibited by law from possessing firearms, and that is a violation of our laws,” Platkin said in a statement, adding that the confiscated rounds were the “same kind of ammunition used in mass shootings.”

On Wednesday, a person who identified himself as Butch’s owner declined to comment.

Evan Nappen, a board member of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, the official NRA representatives in New Jersey, decried the ruling.

“The firearm law oppresses Second Amendment rights,” said Nappen, an attorney and gun rights supporter from Eatontown, Monmouth County. “They’re picking on small fry like Butch’s and look to build from there to scare others about the Second Amendment.

“Where is it going to end? They should be focusing on criminals, not inanimate objects like ammunition.”

The judge’s ruling comes in the same week that four people — including a New York City police officer — were killed in a shooting inside a Manhattan office building. The alleged shooter used an “AR-15-style assault rifle,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

In his ruling in the Butch’s case, Malestein wrote that there was no evidence that Butch’s Gun World had “established any controls regarding the sale of gun related products.” The ammunition had been sold to undercover investigators for the Statewide Affirmative Firearms Enforcement Office (SAFE), a first-in-the-nation office under the attorney general established in 2022 to hold the gun industry accountable for violations of firearms laws.

The New Jersey Firearms Industry Public Safety Law requires gun industry members to establish “reasonable procedures, safeguards, and business practices” that are designed to prevent the sale of gun-related products to people who are prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or federal law.

“Gun violence is a public health epidemic, and in New Jersey, we hold the gun industry to reasonable accountability standards just as we would for other industries that create or sell dangerous products,” said Ravi Ramanathan, director of SAFE, in a statement.

In his ruling, Malestein wrote that Platkin and the SAFE office “reserve the right to monitor Butch’s Gun World’s ongoing compliance with the terms of this injunction, including through unannounced and/or undercover visits and attempts to purchase gun-related products.”

Butch’s must also keep detailed sales records and send them to SAFE for three years.

Finally, Butch’s must be sure to sell gun-related products to people who are licensed under New Jersey law as a manufacturer, wholesaler, or dealer of firearms, and/or individuals who possess a valid New Jersey firearms card or permit and first exhibit the card or permit to the gun shop’s staff, Malestein ruled.

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