IN THE MATTER DENIAL APPLICATION OF BARBARA L. KNIGHT FOR A FIREARMS PURCHASER IDENTIFICATION CARD

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-6804-03T56804-03T5

IN THE MATTER OF THE DENIAL

OF THE APPLICATION OF

BARBARA L. KNIGHT FOR A

FIREARMS PURCHASER

IDENTIFICATION CARD

_______________________________

 

Submitted: October 11, 2005 - Decided:

Before Judges Skillman and Axelrad.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division - Criminal Part, Ocean County.

Charles C. Berkeley, attorney for appellant Barbara L. Knight.

Gilmore and Monahan, attorneys for respondent Township of Stafford (Lawrence L. McIver, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Petitioner Barbara Knight appeals from an order of the Law Division denying her application for a firearms identification card. The Stafford Police Department had found no disqualifiers in petitioner's background but denied the application pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(c)(5), as not being in the interest of the public health, safety and welfare, based on the background of petitioner's husband, Kenneth Knight. As testified to by Police Chief Larry Parker in the de novo Law Division hearing, his denial had been based on Kenneth Knight's two failed suicide attempts in 1987 and a 2003 domestic violence incident resulting in a criminal complaint and seizure of his twenty-three weapons.

Kenneth Knight's first attempted suicide involved a motor vehicle and the other involved the self-infliction of multiple stab wounds, the latter with Chief Parker on the scene as the first medical responder. In the 2003 domestic violence incident, petitioner's husband was arrested for physically striking her and damaging the house and her vehicle with a sledgehammer. The criminal mischief complaint was dismissed, the assault was amended to a borough ordinance disorderly persons offense, and petitioner voluntarily dismissed the temporary restraining order. There was no evidence that Kenneth Knight had applied for and was denied return of the seized weapons, though it was undisputed that the weapons had never been returned. The chief also testified that he was a friend of Kenneth Knight and knew him to be an avid hunter.

Petitioner testified that she wanted the firearms ID card so her eleven-year-old son could apply for a hunting license and go pheasant and deer hunting. She also testified the weapons would be secured in a locked gun cabinet.

The judge found both witnesses to be credible. He concluded that the chief had established by a fair preponderance of the evidence a sufficient statutory basis to deny petitioner's application based on her husband's disqualifiers, and entered an order on June 24, 2004. On appeal, petitioner argues that the absence of an express finding that her husband would have access to any weapons purchased by her warrants reversal of the denial of her application. She further contends her husband's suicide attempts should not be disqualifiers based on their remoteness in time, and notes he possessed up to twenty-three firearms in the intervening sixteen years without incident. We are not persuaded by these arguments and affirm.

Although it would have been preferable for the trial judge to have made a finding of the likelihood of access to the firearms by petitioner's husband, we are not convinced the omission was fatal to the order of denial. There is a reasonable basis in the record for concern that Kenneth Knight could gain access to the firearms and use them to commit an act of violence. The parties were married for twenty-two years and lived together in the same residence. Petitioner did not testify that she intended or was capable of preventing her husband from obtaining access to any guns she bought with her firearms purchaser identification. Furthermore, as a practical matter, because Kenneth Knight was an avid hunter, he would have access to the firearms in guiding his minor son on their use and supervising his hunting expeditions. Moreover, the judge gave proper deference to the investigative experience and expertise of Chief Parker in denying petitioner's application. Weston v. State, 60 N.J. 36, 46 (1972). The judge reasonably relied upon the concerns expressed by Chief Parker, a family friend, regarding Kenneth Knight's potential instability and violent nature as evidenced by the prior incidents. Similar concerns were held to justify denial of a gun permit in In re Clark, 257 N.J. Super. 152 (Law Div. l992), even though, as in this case, the applicant herself would not have been disqualified from obtaining a firearms permit except for the fact that her husband posed a danger to public safety.

 
Affirmed.

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A-6804-03T5

October 27, 2005