Court denies New Jersey man's gun permits due to wife's record

TRENTON, N.J. -- A state appellate court has ruled that a southern New Jersey man cannot buy guns because his wife is a convicted felon who's been accused of domestic violence.

In their ruling issued this week, the two-judge panel found that the guns' presence in the man's home would give his wife greater access to firearms, creating an unacceptable threat to public health, safety and welfare. They said the man's Constitutional right to own weapons was "subject to reasonable limitations."

The ruling upheld decisions made by a state Superior Court judge and the police chief in the Burlington County town where the man lives. The man's name was not disclosed in the ruling because the case involved claims of domestic violence and to protect his 13-year-old son's privacy.

The man had sought a firearm purchaser's identification card and four permits to buy guns.

The man had said he would keep the guns locked up and out of his wife's control. The weapons he wanted to buy were intended to replace "antiquated" guns dating to the 1940s that he now uses for target shooting with his son.

The ruling noted that the man's wife has two felony convictions for drug offenses and also was convicted of drunken driving. It also said police were called to the family's home in December 2011, when the man claimed his wife had hit him while she was drinking.

The man's attorney declined comment on the ruling.