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Legal questions about steel jawed legholds

2K views 18 replies 15 participants last post by  RednekF350 
#1 ·
I realize that the compendium is just a summary and not the actual law. Where do I find the actual statutes refering to the possession of steel jawed-legholds? The compendium states that they may not be used or possessed anywhere in the state. I am not planning on setting any in this state but I would like to know the actual law. If this were the actual law, even truck drivers could be in violation, if transporting from a southern state up through New England. I highly doubt that no-one can possess any in the state. What I really want to know is if I bought some for trapping in PA, NY or some where else or heck even hanging it in the garage, would I be violating any laws? I really need to find the actual law, as this summary is not very clear.
 
#3 ·
23:4-22.1. Animal trap of steel-jaw leghold type; prohibition of manufacture, sale, possession, importation or transportation
No person shall manufacture, sell, offer for sale, possess, import or transport an animal trap of the steel-jaw leghold type.

L.1984, c. 37, s. 1.

23:4-22.2. Prohibition of taking or attempting to take any animal
No person shall take or attempt to take any animal by means of a trap of the steel-jaw leghold type.

L.1984, c. 37, s. 2.

23:4-22.3. Possession as prima facie evidence
The possession of a trap of the steel-jaw leghold type shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of section 2 of this amendatory and supplementary act except under the circumstances indicated by section 5 of this amendatory and supplementary act.

L.1984, c. 37, s. 3.
23:4-22.7. Violations; penalties
A person using a steel-jaw leghold type animal trap in violation of any rule or regulation under this amendatory and supplementary act shall, for each illegal trap involved, be fined not less than $50.00 nor more than $250.00 for a first offense; not less than $250.00 nor more than $500.00 for a second offense; not less than $500.00 nor more than $2,500.00 for a third or subsequent offense.

L.1984, c. 37, s. 7.
I'm not sure if this link will work...
http://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/cgi-bi...softpage=Doc_Frame_Pg42&wordsaroundhits=2&zz=

Go to the state of new jersey website. Click on legislature (small button on the right). Click on Statutes (small button on the left). Enter leghold trap in the search function.
 
#4 ·
i trap ny and pa i keep all my traps at friends in ny and pa dont even bring them to nj to boil wax or dye them i have to make trips before season to get all this done
when the law was passed from what ive been told they tried to push that they couldnt even be trucked thru or imported ast the docks true or not i dont know i just wish i could posses them having two valid out of state lic but the law is the law and isnt worth the hassle and aggravation of getting in to trouble if you have them get rid of them aint worth it you can posses them if they are inoprable pan and dawg removed jaws welded shut from what ive been told even the key chain trap that can be set and will catch a mosquito is illlegal due to ita a functioning steel jaw trap
 
#6 ·
There are ways to render them unusable and display them legally as antiques as I recall. But to your question, the others are correct. Can't even own or transport them legally. I wound up giving all of mine away to a friend/neighbor of our PA hunting camp where he is still trapping with them today.
 
#11 ·
I wonder how many are hanging in sheds and attics all accross NJ.
I can admit to about 43 of them at my Mom's place until last summer when she asked me to help here move. I was shocked that I still had them at her place some 25+ years later. They are now in PA at our hunting camp's neighbor's per my earlier post:)

Never told Mom she was a law breaker all those years. She never even speeds...[hihi]
 
#13 ·
Amazing New Jersey ... Liberty is SOooo crushed in these blue states! Possess??? Like you're going to walk into a police station or school and cut loose these dastardly weapons??? Where this country is headed is scary. It's now against the law to even say certain things. Lord help us. No wonder China is burying us.
 
#14 ·
The only way you can have them here is to make them so the do not work, be a collector or if you use them for education purposes.

I was at the state house when we lost, Don't know if Gob was there or any of the others on here. Jim Furlong came out to us and told us we will loose the leg hold but a alternative trap will be named in the state university study, that trap will be the soft catch and the snare. the politics of this state kept that from ever coming about.

the reason this happened is simple and I fear I see it bringing up it's ugly head now again. simple outdoors men went against the trapper. there was fox hunters and bird hunter siding with the antis. there was a division and the trapper lost, some say good but all sports men lost. soon after the rabies came into the state we told them it will, because of high populations of skunk and **** from no trapping. and it wiped out the populations for 15 years. soon after the game birds population started to drop. the coyote moved in and took hold, it was stated in another post how the trapper looks and reads the land it is true. and trapping kept the predato pray in balance. Now 20 some years later, when you look at the x bow, deer drives this I want me to that I want me. groups are doing it again.

I was just told that a anti group just requested information from the division that is public and must be given. Gob Susan may be back! the sports men of this state said they will never take the leg hold it is our right! but division in our ranks lost the leg hold. the bow hunters got smart after the attack and got a front when they was attacked. Bow hunting I am told by many anti's is worst than trapping or gun hunting, but there is to many so they have to win the little battles. cause a division[wallmad]

leg holds and hand guns you must have your papers where are your papers.
 
#15 ·
You are spot on *******. Divide and conquer. The dog hunters and other sportsmen turned on us big time. This is what the anti's count on. They section off one aspect of the sport, in this case it was trapping. One day it may be bird hunting. The deer hunters say," what do I care, I don't bird hunt anyway" and another piece is lost. All sportsmen have to stick together on all aspects of the outdoors, they will chip away at it one season at a time.
 
#16 ·
United we stand, Divided we fall. This is something that needs to be brought up at hunter ed classes. This is one of the only times a strong message can be covered. People who are part of this site and others like it stay in tune with what is going on. There is a huge number of sportsmen who are not informed or just don't care, thinking their outdoor activities is a god given right. This ranks right up there with casting your vote in November.
 
#18 ·
United we stand, Divided we fall. This is something that needs to be brought up at hunter ed classes. This is one of the only times a strong message can be covered. People who are part of this site and others like it stay in tune with what is going on. There is a huge number of sportsmen who are not informed or just don't care, thinking their outdoor activities is a god given right. This ranks right up there with casting your vote in November.
Education is everything...
We have to instill these values to the younger generation before it's to late.
The state should include a short chapter in the Hunter Safety Training Course about our freedoms and our sport and how it keep both.
You may think it may be off line at a safety course and your right, but that's when the all the youngsters are present and listening.
Just my two cents.
 
#19 ·
I just happened to be reading this report the other day.
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/trapper_survey09-10.pdf
NJ only had 987 licensed trappers in 2009-2010 !
Those are very low numbers and portray a real point of weakness if trappers had to defend themselves from any sort of attack on the tradition and sport.

Having the support of all of the shooting and hunting sports is the only way trappers would survive.

The only bright spot is the fact that the number of licensed trappers is slowly on the rise.
 
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