The Great State of New Jersey now finds itself in a situation somewhat like the legendary dog that chased a bus and managed to clamp its jaw on the bumper. Now what? It has passed a law mandating confiscation of high capacity gun magazines, and the law just passed a constitutional challenge at the federal appeals court level.

Stephen Gutowski reports at the Free Beacon:

New Jersey law enforcement officials refused to say on Thursday how they planned to go about enforcing the state's ban on the possession of any magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition, which goes into effect on Monday.

Neither the state police nor the attorney general's office elaborated on how they plan to enforce the law. Nor did they provide any guidance for those currently in possession of the magazines.

The law, signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in June along with five other new gun laws, gave New Jersey gun owners who currently possess the magazines in question 180 days to either surrender them, permanently modify them to only accept up to 10 rounds, or transfer them to somebody who is allowed to legally own them. The deadline is set to expire on Monday.

High capacity magazines seized by US Custioms and Border Protection

Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law, which had been challenged by Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs and supported by the National Rifle Association.

My guess is that the law will only be enforced when the owner of a magazine is arrested on other charges (for instance, armed robbery), adding another charge to the underlying crime. But it will hardly encourage respect for the law if the state takes this approach.

Otherwise law-abiding gun owners who possess and fail to turn in their criminalized equipment are still at risk if they use, in self-defense at home a gun with the prohibited magazine, against an intruder.

I presume that the case will be appealed to the Supreme Court, but that would take time, and there is no certainty the Court would pick up the appeal and consider it.

As a general rule, it’s a very idea to pass a law which cannot be enforced in any practical way.