Hollow points are not entirely illegal in New Jersey, but the law treats them as prohibited by default and legal only in specific places and activities. You can keep hollow point ammunition at home, use it for hunting with a valid license, and shoot it at a licensed range. Carrying it anywhere else, including loose in your car on an unrelated errand, is a fourth-degree crime under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-3, punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.1Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes 2C:39-3 – Prohibited Weapons and Devices
Where You Can Legally Have Hollow Points
The statute lays out a short list of approved situations. Outside them, possession alone is enough for a charge. You don’t have to fire the ammunition or even have a gun with you.
At Home or on Property You Own
You can keep hollow point ammunition at your home, on your premises, or on other land you own or possess.1Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes 2C:39-3 – Prohibited Weapons and Devices This is the broadest exception and the one most people rely on for home defense. If you use a firearm loaded with hollow points to defend yourself inside your dwelling, the ammunition itself is not the legal problem.
Target Shooting at a Range
You can possess hollow points while engaged in target practice at a licensed shooting range or at a rifle or pistol club. The exception covers both the activity and the direct trip to and from the location.
Hunting With a Valid License
If you hold a valid New Jersey hunting license, you can possess and use hollow points while hunting in the state. Many hunters prefer them because the bullet expands on impact and is less likely to pass through the animal. The exception again extends to direct transport between your home and your hunting grounds.
Penalties If You’re Caught Outside the Exceptions
Unlawful possession of hollow nose or dum-dum bullets is a fourth-degree crime. A fourth-degree crime in New Jersey sits above the state’s equivalent of a misdemeanor and carries real prison exposure: up to 18 months of incarceration2Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes 2C:43-6 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Crime and a fine of up to $10,000.3Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes 2C:43-3 – Fines and Restitutions
The conviction has a second life beyond state court. Federal law bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment from possessing any firearm or ammunition.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts A fourth-degree hollow point conviction qualifies, so a plea or verdict can cost you the right to own firearms nationwide, not just in New Jersey.
Prosecutors must show you knowingly had the hollow points, meaning you were aware of the ammunition you were carrying. Not knowing that New Jersey restricts them is not a defense. People moving in from states where hollow points are unrestricted regularly discover this the hard way.
How to Transport Hollow Points Legally
Transport is where most honest mistakes happen. The law allows you to move hollow points only on a direct route between approved locations: the store to your home, home to the range, home to your hunting area. Only deviations that are “reasonably necessary” are permitted along the way,5Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes 2C:39-9 – Manufacture, Transport, Disposition and Defacement of Weapons and courts read that narrowly. A gas stop on a direct route is likely fine. Running errands across town with hollow points in your trunk is not.
While in transit, the ammunition has to meet three conditions:
- Kept separately from any firearm, in a closed and fastened container, with the gun unloaded.
- Placed in the trunk if your vehicle has one.
- Placed in a locked container if your vehicle has no trunk. The glove compartment and center console do not qualify as locked containers.
A loaded magazine of hollow points sitting in the center console during a traffic stop will create serious legal problems even if you were on your way to the range.
Buying Hollow Points in New Jersey
Ammunition sales in New Jersey involve more paperwork than in most states. Dealers must record the transaction and verify the buyer’s age: 21 for handgun ammunition, 18 for rifle or shotgun ammunition.6New Jersey State Police. N.J.A.C. Title 13 Chapter 54 – Firearms Regulations Expect to show ID and expect the dealer to log the sale.
The transport rules apply the moment you walk out of the shop. Take the ammunition directly home in a closed, fastened container in the trunk. No detour to the grocery store, no stop at a friend’s house along the way.
Polymer-Tip and Filled-Cavity Ammunition
A common question involves bullets with a plastic insert at the tip, like Hornady Critical Defense or Cor-Bon PowRball. According to guidance from the New Jersey State Police, ammunition whose cavity is filled with polymer is not classified as hollow point ammunition under state law. The statute targets bullets with a “hollow nose,” and a filled nose is not hollow.
This matters for people who want effective home defense ammunition without the transport restrictions. The NJSP’s position is interpretive guidance rather than statutory text, and not every officer or prosecutor is familiar with it. Keeping documentation of the ammunition’s design is a sensible precaution if you rely on this category.
Driving Through New Jersey From Another State
If you’re passing through with hollow points from a state where they’re legal, the federal Peaceable Journey law, 18 U.S.C. ยง 926A, provides some protection. It covers anyone transporting a firearm between two places where they can lawfully possess it, as long as the firearm is unloaded and neither the gun nor the ammunition is readily accessible from the passenger compartment. In a vehicle without a separate trunk, both must be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms
The federal shield is narrower than it looks. It covers transport only. Once you stop for the night, check into a hotel, or do anything beyond brief stops reasonably necessary for the trip, you may fall out from under its protection and back under New Jersey law. If you’re driving through, keep the ammunition locked in the trunk and keep moving.
Retired Law Enforcement Officers
Active-duty law enforcement officers are exempt from the hollow point ban under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-3.1Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes 2C:39-3 – Prohibited Weapons and Devices The rule for retirees was contested until the Third Circuit ruled in 2024 that the federal Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act preempts New Jersey’s hollow point restriction as applied to qualified retired officers carrying LEOSA-compliant identification.8Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association v. Attorney General New Jersey Because LEOSA defines “firearm” to include ammunition not prohibited by federal law, and hollow points are federally legal, New Jersey cannot override that protection for LEOSA-qualified retirees. If you’re relying on this ruling, carry your LEOSA credentials.