I live in New Jersey, for the time being.
The rules for transport in NJ:
1. NJ Compliant weapons only
2. NJ Firearms ID Card must be on person
3. All guns locked with gun locks
4. Guns locked in a case
5. Ammunition locked in a separate case
6. All guns and ammo must be locked in the trunk, inaccessible by the driver or anyone in the car.
7. No stops for anything but gas.
8. Never leave guns unattended in the vehicle.
Violation of any one of these rules can get you ten years.
If you drive a car that does not have a locking trunk, like a hatchback or a car that has a pass-through in the back seat, you cannot legally transport in NJ.
My local police chief assures me that he has no objection to a gun in the hatchback portion of my car, as long as the luggage hiding platform is in place, but he is not sure how other jurisdictions might treat this. I keep the keys for all of the locking cases in a key-hider under the hood, so I have no access while in the car. Hopefully that will keep me out of jail.
I also live in NJ and I am active in the gun community.
You have made several errors.
1. Correct
2. NJ Firearms Purchaser ID confers no legality to carry or possession of handguns outside of the exemptions. It does confer legality to long guns to carry in places outside of the exemptions. It is a PURCHASER ID, not an Owners ID. Is is possible to buy and own handguns in NJ and transport them legally without ever having obtained a FPID. It is also possible to move into NJ with NJ legal firearms and transport them legally.
3. Not correct. There are no rules or statutes requiring gun locks.
4. Also not true. I can quote you the statutes, but a securely tied package also qualifies.
5. Ammunition separate is not required. What is required while transporting is “Unloaded”. There is no case law on what that means specifically.
6. Locked in trunk is true, inaccessible is also true. You can transport in open vehicles as long as it is inaccessible. Pass through trunks and whatnot are not dis-qualifiers.
7. The language says “reasonable deviation”. Christie tried to fix the language but the legislature didn’t allow it. Gas is reasonable, a 3 hour full course dinner is not. Everything in between is up for debate.
8. There is no specific prohibition on leaving guns in a vehicle nor is there case law.
You can go ahead and argue with me. I will tell you that I’ve spent the last 10 years educating people on these laws and if you’re going to contradict me, you will need to provide the statute number and cite because I know them by heart.