FSS Armory, US-46, Pine Brook, NJ
Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced the court-approved settlement of a civil lawsuit against licensed firearms retailer FSS Armory, Inc., whose unreasonable gun product storage practices, openly broadcast by the store on its own website, culminated in a 2023 burglary in which criminals took 18 unsecured guns.
To date, only half of the stolen guns have been recovered, and each of those was located by law enforcement at a crime scene or in the hands of criminals—including on the scene of subsequent crimes that resulted in injury for a responding police officer.
The settlement announced today addresses the inadequate business practices that led to this public safety threat by requiring that FSS Armory install upgraded security at its store located in Pine Brook, Morris County; secure the firearms it sells; and pay $125,000 as compensation to the State of New Jersey.
The settlement brings to a close one of the first lawsuits filed in 2023 by Attorney General Platkin through the Statewide Affirmative Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Office. SAFE has the legislative mandate to bring civil enforcement actions against members of the firearms industry to hold them accountable for violations of the law that harm the health and safety of New Jersey residents. Here, the lawsuit alleged four separate counts of unlawful conduct by FSS Armory, including one count of common law negligence and three counts based on violations of N.J.S.A. 2C:58-35, New Jersey’s firearms industry public safety law enacted in 2022.
“This case is a stark example of the consequences that can result when unsecured firearms fall into the wrong hands. By storing these firearms with inadequate security measures, FSS Armory made it easy for them to be stolen and later used in crimes,” said Attorney General Platkin. “In New Jersey, we use every tool at our disposal to prevent violence caused by firearms. Other licensed gun retailers should take heed of this case. As the state’s chief law enforcement officer, I will continue to do everything in my power to protect the public from the epidemic of firearm violence.”
“Today’s settlement agreement demonstrates that our state’s firearms industry public safety law works exactly as intended,” said Ravi Ramanathan, Director of SAFE. “Companies in all industries are held responsible when their actions jeopardize the health and safety of the public. The gun industry should be no different. This case is a reminder that gun retailers must abide by the law like everyone else.”
As part of the resolution, FSS Armory admitted that it stored unsecured guns at the store within easy reach of a ground-floor window and posted images of those unsecured guns on its website. And it also admitted to the burglary of those unsecured guns and the public harm that followed.
Specifically, in January 2023, two individuals traveled to FSS Armory, broke the window, and stole 18 unsecured guns: seven pistols, six shotguns, four rifles, and one revolver. No alarm was activated, and the burglary was not discovered until the next morning when the owner went to open the store and alerted law enforcement.
In the meantime, the burglars had traveled to Passaic, where several hours later they robbed a jewelry store. In that crime, they held two customers and two store owners at gunpoint and injured one of them by tossing them to the ground.
All of the nine stolen guns that have been recovered to date have a connection to crime. One pistol was recovered in Newark in the possession of a suspect wanted for several incidents of domestic violence; this suspect ran from the officer apprehending him, who suffered a head wound during the chase. Another pistol turned up in Paterson during a police sweep of an illegal nightclub. One more pistol was recovered by police in New York from a suspect in a car that had been stolen at gunpoint less than forty-eight hours earlier. And six more guns—four shotguns, one rifle, and one pistol—were recovered in New York during a long-term controlled-buy operation in which the gun sales were intercepted by undercover New York Police Department officers. The three suspects in that operation, all of whom were from New Jersey, have been formally charged and indicted. The whereabouts of nine more stolen guns are presently unknown.
In addition to paying compensation to the State, under the Consent Order and Final Judgment implementing the settlement, FSS Armory agreed to take the following steps to improve its store security and firearms storage practices:
- Install on all windows and exterior doors of the store an alarm system that is able to make real-time notifications of any break-in to law enforcement and/or the owner of FSS Armory;
- Install bars on all exterior windows of the store that are narrow enough to prevent a person from reaching their arm through from the outside;
- During non-business hours, store all firearms and ammunition in a heavy gauge metal cabinet with an adequate locking device, in a safe or vault, or in a manner otherwise approved by the SAFE Office and in compliance with State regulations;
- Abide by all requirements of the Consent Order and Final Judgment for as long as FSS Armory remains a firearms retailer;
- Agree to an independent monitor, who will inspect FSS Armory every six months for four years to ensure compliance with the terms of the Consent Order and Final Judgment.
SAFE’s work is instrumental in advancing New Jersey’s commonsense fight against gun violence and keeping residents safe. The proof is in the data: New Jersey has the third-lowest rate of firearms deaths in the United States. Moreover, in 2024, the number of people shot in New Jersey fell below 800, the lowest number since the State began tracking these incidents.
SAFE’s investigation was led by SAFE Deputy Director Jeremy Ershow, Assistant Attorney General Shira Arnow, Senior Investigators Eric Barlow and Reinaldo Roldan, and Deputy Attorney General Emily Erwin. The Attorney General and SAFE are represented by Assistant Attorney General David Leit and Deputy Attorneys General Jonathan Mangel, Loren Miller, Giancarlo Piccinini, and Andrea Cavazos of the Division of Law’s Special Litigation Section in the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Practice Group.
SAFE is a first-in-the-nation office focused on firearms industry compliance and accountability. The SAFE Office was established by Attorney General Platkin in 2022 to exercise the Attorney General’s authority under the State’s firearms industry public safety legislation, P.L. 2022, c. 56, and to facilitate the efficient and effective administration of laws pertaining to gun violence.
