Quadriplegic Has Right to Own Firearms, Judge Rules

A quadriplegic man has the right to own firearms, even though he can't hold a gun or pull the trigger, a New Jersey judge has decided, overruling the local police chief in Manville.

“I hope you enjoy the use of your firearm,” Somerville Superior Court Judge John Pursel told 46-year-old James Cap today before signing an order that allows him to get a weapons permit, so long as he follows safety precautions. They include storing guns in a safe and being assisted by qualified individuals, reports the Newark Star-Ledger.

Cap plans to use a special breath-operated wheelchair-mounted mechanical device to shoot after an assistant places the gun in the device.

Pursel's ruling ended a more than two-year battle by Cap, who hunted in his youth before he broke his neck during a high school football game, the newspaper recounts.

Borough attorney Francis Linnus said the police chief was correct to deny Cap the firearms identification card required to purchase a gun in New Jersey. Because state law prohibits the ID card from being granted to individuals with a physical defect or disease that prevents them from handling guns safely, a judge needed to determine whether Cap was qualified, the lawyer says.