Suit in New Jersey Attempts to Reclaim Rights of Spouse in Confiscation Case

The spouse of a woman that was wrongfully committed to a psychiatric facility had his firearms confiscated. Elsid Aliaj is suing Fort Lee, N.J. to get back his property.

Earlier this year Aliaj’s wife was tended to at a walk-in medical facility for pregnancy-related health concerns. What was supposed to be medical treatment for Aliaj’s wife during a vulnerable time ended up turning into a nightmare when the facility had her wrongfully and involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. In a completely inappropriate and unconstitutional move, the Fort Lee Police Department confiscated Aliaj’s firearms and revoked his firearms identification card. Today, Aliaj filed a lawsuit seeking to regain his property.

“This is not a close case,” the lawsuit states. “Rather, Defendants have blatantly thumbed their nose at the clear precedent of the Supreme Court of the United States and will continue to do so absent court intervention. A governmental entity simply may not prevent a peaceable, law-abiding individual from possessing handguns and other firearms in the home, full stop.”

The filing further notes that “the Second Amendment ‘takes certain policy choices off the table [including] the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home’” and asserts “New Jersey can’t bar Aliaj from safely possessing handguns and other firearms in his home and neither can Defendants, regardless of the purported mental condition of family members and cohabitants.”

The lawsuit was filed in the federal U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on November 3, 2025. Supporting Aliaj in this lawsuit are the New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate and Second Amendment Foundation.

“Today, NJFOS and our partner SAF joined to file a federal lawsuit against the Fort Lee Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office,” a press release from New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate states. “The rationale for this action is quite simple: there is no historical tradition of disarming the people merely because they cohabitate with someone who may have a temporary legal disability… and more importantly, when law enforcement agencies and prosecutors act to restrain Second Amendment rights of the people of this state with no statutory authority, our organization will take action.”

This story is full of so many interesting facts about how the Fort Lee Police Department and Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office totally bungled this from day one — it’s truly astounding. The burden that they’re going to have to meet in order to connect with New Jersey’s law is incredibly high.

That said, New Jersey’s law has plenty of faults, but in this instance it does not appear that there’s a facial challenge to any specific statute. Although, it’s safe to reason that New Jersey’s strict and draconian laws are what —  in part — enabled and emboldened these officials to subvert Aliaj’s Second Amendment right.

“We are today sending a clear message that rogue police departments and county prosecutors who violate a multitude of New Jerseyans’ core constitutional rights with no legal authority will not go unchecked,” said Joe LoPorto, the director of legal operations of New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate. “This case is as much about protecting our members’ 4th and 5th Amendment rights as it is about protecting the right to keep and bear arms.”

“The actions by the Fort Lee Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office are absolutely unconstitutional,” said Second Amendment Foundation Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Mr. Aliaj is a peaceable citizen and is not disqualified from owning or possessing firearms, yet the police department and prosecutor’s office continue to infringe on his Second Amendment rights. He has tried going through the proper channels to regain possession of his property since April but continues to be disenfranchised. The only options the prosecutor’s office gave Mr. Aliaj for returning his firearms is to store them outside his home, sell the guns, destroy them or have a hearing to try and return the confiscated items, all of which are a violation of his constitutional rights.” 

How this case is going to shake out isn’t likely a big mystery. There’s a clear path for victory for Aliaj and the law is on his side. Once this case is litigated at the district court level it’s not probable that’ll move much further down the line. However, should Aliaj find himself before even some of the few anti-liberty judges of the Third Circuit, it’ll be hard for them to reason away why one person’s Second Amendment rights should be affected by any other individual — ever.

“You can’t be disarmed simply because of an association with someone,” said Second Amendment Foundation founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The fact that Mr. Aliaj’s wife was committed to a medical facility has absolutely no bearing on his ability to own and possess firearms, period. It’s a sad day when a peaceable citizen must retain attorneys to fight for their Second Amendment rights, although it should come as no surprise in New Jersey. This is a clear-cut case of constitutional infringement, and we fully expect a swift resolution.” 

We’ll be anxiously watching the progress of this suit. We won’t be shocked if we learn Fort Lee moots it out by returning all of Aliaj’s property and sees to the reissuance of his firearms identification card. Attempts to make a deal could also be something the magic eight ball says is a possibility.

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

Help us continue to report the truth about the Schumer Shutdown. Use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.