scotty456

Thanks so much to everyone for the responses - some great information to help me pick. I think I'll end up going with the Shield - have shot it a few times now and really am happy with the way it handles for me, but of course it always boils down to personal preference for the most part. But I really appreciate all the great advice and information - thanks so much!

I have one remaining permit and want to use it to buy a small 9mm pistol. I have looked at a couple, and tried out the M&P Shield and the XD-S, and was also told I should try the Glock 43. So far, I liked the M&P Shield the best, but am wondering if this is a good, solid, reputable pistol to purchase (and also if I should get any additional accessories with it, such as an extended magazine - both for better grip and for more ammo). Any information/reviews/opinions are welcome. Thanks!

Wow - lots of good info here - thanks! I need a few days to process everything, and might then post a follow-up question or two, but thanks to all for responding.

I just bought my first firearm (9mm Walther PPQ M2) and am really happy with it thus far. However, I obviously need to start looking into ordering cheaper ammo online vs. buying it in the store and paying a premium for it. I've checked out gunbot.net, slickguns.com, and ammoseek.com, and it seems like there are a lot of possibilities for paying as little as $0.19 - $0.21/round (vs. around $0.35/round that I paid when I bought it at the local store). The only problem is, I have no idea what I'm looking at in terms of the differences, how to compare, or what might be best both in terms of my status as a beginner and in terms of keeping my firearm in good condition. The ammo I currently have is federal 9mm 115gr fmj (if that helps - it's what I bought when I purchased the firearm), but am open to suggestions (and would actually heavily appreciate suggestions). Thanks!

First off, thank you to everyone who posted advice - I've read through it all several times now and it's been extremely useful. I took a 2-hour private one-on-one class at my local range (RTSP) this past weekend and got a good handle on things from a really good instructor, and then was back at the range yesterday (Tuesday) to cycle through a few 9mm's to see what I liked. Unfortunately, despite taking notes, I'm not any closer to a decision. I figure I'll go back again and try some more to see if I can come to a conclusion. A few people also asked me where I'm located - I'm in Morris County about 15 minutes from RTSP (Parsippany-area), so if anyone happens to be nearby and wants to offer some additional help, it would be foolish for me to turn that down! Thanks again all.

Wow - thank you everyone for the enormous wealth of information! I have to process much of it, but it seems like a class is definitely the first step in the right direction. Should I just take one (the NRA basic pistol class) at my local range, or is there a better place in NJ to do so? I wouldn't mind traveling a bit for a several hour class if I knew I was getting the best instruction. Also - (and I might be mistaken on this), but it seems that at least one person might have implied that ammo is going to be more expensive if purchased at my local range - is that the case? Is there somewhere better I should be buying ammo (and maybe other accessories, or even my pistols themselves when I'm ready)? Once again, I don't mind traveling a bit to do these purchases if I'm getting a good deal and will have knowledgeable staff selling them to me. Thanks again everyone!

First off, I apologize if this is the wrong forum for my post - it just seemed like the one that fit best. So, I finally got my firearms permits and pistol permits from my local PD, and am now ready to take the next steps. I am trying to operate relatively logically with regards to this, so I broke my next steps up into a few specific sections (all of which I could readily use advice on). 1) Firearms Purchase - obviously now that I have my pistol permits I need to use them and buy pistols. a) The first (of two) guns I want to purchase is a semi-automatic. I've shot a few now over the past few years, and think that .40 or .45 caliber pistols are just too much for me. I want to be able to practice with the weapon on the range so I can get used to using it, and I feel like these just have too much kick and just aren't comfortable for me. I was thinking 9mm - what does everyone think? Is there any particular one I should be looking at? I don't want to spend a fortune, but am willing to spend a fair amount to get a reliable pistol. Also, if whoever replies can give me some price ranges, that'd be great! b) The second one I want to get is a revolver. I've heard that semi-automatic guns can jam or misfire occasionally, and god forbit if I ever had to use a weapon to defend myself I'd want to make sure it's reliable - and I've also heard that revolvers tend to be very reliable - is that true? Any advice or comments are welcome on model, cost, pro's/con's, etc. 2) Once I purchase these weapons, the next thing I need to learn is how to shoot them effectively. I'm assuming I can simply go to a range and take classes to learn about this - does that make sense? Any better ideas? Is it pretty much just practice, practice, practice? 3) Maintenance - I understand that without proper maintenance, these pistols will not last a long time and will end up causing me problems, so obviously I want to learn how to properly, safely, and effectively maintain them - where can I learn this? Is it something I can get a class in at the local range, or something else? 4) Accessories - Aside from the actual pistols, there are probably numerous other things I need to purchase (some pretty obvious, such as bullets, and others not so much or perhaps more of a individual preference than a necessity). I think I will definitely need whatever equipment is necessary to clean/maintain these pistols, as well as the appropriate secured storage to keep them in my house (no kids right now) and to transport them to/from the local range. And what else might I need? 5) Transportation - I want to make sure I am fully in compliance with all the laws regulating pistols and firearms in NJ, so could someone perhaps point me to a site that deals with them; specifically with how I legally transport them in my SUV (no separate trunk compartment) to/from the range? And any other applicable laws that I should know as a new pistol owner? 6) Moving - I might be moving elsewhere in NJ in a few months - can someone advise what the proper procedure is to move with pistols? How do I pack them and transport them to my new location? Do I have to notify anyone that I'm moving to a new location with pistols (or transporting them to a new location), such as the local PD at my new town, etc.? And if I do move out-of-state, how would I handle that? I think that covers all my questions right now - thanks to anyone that can offer any advice!

Well, it's been over a year since I originally applied, but I'm happy to report that I received my permits the other week. I was actually pretty much ready to bite the bullet (bad pun on this forum?) and hire an attorney - had been playing phone tag with one - but remained very polite with the local PD (and the individual in their records department handling firearms applications) and finally got the permits last week. Now I guess I need to move on to the next phase (figuring out what firearm to purchase and learning how to use it safely!). Thankfully, my perseverance paid off (although it did take a year and several months), but I thank all who helped out on here with useful advice and support!

brucin - thanks for the advice. pjd832 - not all of us have tons of money to just go and pay an attorney several thousand dollars to assist with this. As it is, the cost of the firearm along will be a lot, and so I'm trying to avoid spending a ton more on an attorney to get something that I should be legally entitled too. I'm going to hold off on an attorney until it becomes extremely clear that they will never approve my permit or until they deny me - but was just looking for some advice on other methods of perhaps encouraging them to resolve this without me having to spend tons more money.

So it's been almost a year since I applied for my permit, and yet the application still is in limbo as far as I can tell from the local PD (the person who apparently handles these applications there isn't that great about getting back to me or explaining anything). Here's a quick recap of the past year: - was told I needed to get fingerprinted, pay for the application (to the local PD), and get the doctor's letter. - I got fingerprinted many months ago and also paid for the application - I found a doctor that was willing to see me and conduct a session to then determine if he was OK writing me the letter - we had the session, he got the records from my previous doctor, and then he wrote me the letter (and also sent a copy to the local PD) All of the above happened months ago (at the beginning of 2014). Then, nothing for months and months. Now, I'm being told that the local PD doesn't have my fingerprints (something about how the state police stopped some kind of program and they aren't able to retrieve them - not entirely sure to be honest since it wasn't explained to me by the local PD very clearly). I would think that after 11 months, I'd have an answer one way or another (hopefully a YES answer since I did everything I was asked by the local PD). It's not that I'm being denied - it's just that this has been in limbo forever and I'm not sure how to proceed at this point. It's still possible they could approve my application (and that's what I'm hoping), although it seems likely I'll have to go get fingerprinted again (and pay for it again). Any thoughts or advice? Thanks!

Respect2A - by the way, you have purposefully (it seems) kept your posts vague as to whether you were suggesting that I shouldn't have submitted my accompanying letter with my application, or I shouldn't have answered yes to Question #26. If you mean that I shouldn't have answered yes to Question #26, than it would appear that you are actively encouraging me to commit a crime, since according to the firearms application, "Falsification of this form is a crime of the third degree as provided in NJS 2C:39-10c." While I don't agree with the question, or the fact that answering yes to it brings up the ability for the local PD to do things like request this hard-to-obtain letter or just outright deny applicants, I am certainly not going to knowingly answer the question falsely and thereby expose myself to criminal penalties! The question is very general in what it asks for, and unfortunately based on how it is phrased I must answer yes to it in order to be truthful on the application - that is the end of the matter as far as whether I should answer Question #26 yes or no as far as I'm concerned.

How exactly would you have handled the situation??: - Not included the letter regarding the circumstances around my previous attempt in my previous town? In doing so, they might have just given me the permit, but they also might have requested a letter anyway (like the first town did), or they might have just denied me outright, in which case I'd have to spend a lot more money than I will now to appeal the case. - Answered question #26 with a no? I will absolutely not do that since it's very likely against the law and could end up landing me in a gigantic pile of trouble - Hired an attorney first? Either way, I'd have to spend the money on the attorney - doing it after submitting the application but before getting denied vs. doing it before the application is probably a wash in terms of the difference in cost. Any way you look at it, I'm between a rock and a hard place due to my previous visit with a mental health professional and will most likely have to pay an attorney some amount of money to get a referral to a doctor (and then more money to the doctor). Yes, I could have just submitted the application with a yes for Question #26 and no supporting letter, but I doubt very much the cops are idiots - they would see my yes answer to Question #26 and it would allow them to either request the exact letter they are requesting now because of my supporting letter in my application, or worse, deny my application outright requiring me to spend more money on an appeal than I'll have to spend right now. So, I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "You have been told what you should do by people who know far more then you about the subject. You simply don't want to listen. You keep doing what you think you should do instead of what you should do." - the only thing I've received on these forums is those who commiserate with my situation and those who don't offer any helpful advice and seem to think I should have tried something "shady" - I've carefully analyzed and considered this situation from a lot of different angles and the way I'm proceeding seems to make the most sense. If you have another option that I didn't mention above, I'd be happy to listen to it, but otherwise perhaps it might be best for you to not offer me any further "advice"

Damjan - Thank you for the first actual response with information that could possibly help me (both on this forum and another one)! I just emailed them to inquire if they can assist me with my situation, so I guess I'll wait and see, but I appreciate the response!

It was my experience, at least in the previous municipality, that the local PD tend to slow track these things no matter what, meaning I probably don't have like an urgent need to get the letter by tomorrow...but rather have at least a few weeks to procure one. I believe I tried calling Evan Nappen previously (I didn't keep that careful track unfortunately) and like the other few attorney's I contacted, he wanted to "take me on as a client" before providing me any information (which requires me basically paying him for the referral). Unfortunately, the doc that I initially saw for my OCD/anxiety is not willing to right the letter either. I'm not sure if it's because these doctors are just anti-gun, or for some other reason, but I doubt that it has anything to do with me. Honestly, despite the fact that I'm not anti-gun, I still don't know if I'd feel comfortable as a doctor writing a letter stating that in my professional opinion it was OK for someone else to get a gun since it could seriously expose me to a lot of liability - that might very well be the reason these docs won't write the letter either.

Not really a feasible solution currently...

Too late unfortunately - already submitted the application...but I don't think the concern you have is really an issue, since my new town PD seems fine with letting me get the letter as well.

While I understand that providing add'l information can sometimes cause issues, I made a calculated decision in this case to do so. My concern was that if I did nothing except provide what they asked for, including answering question #26 in the affirmative, then it was very possible they would simply deny my application outright and then I would have to spend thousands of dollars on an attorney to appeal the decision. It was also possible, though much less likely they would just approve me and I wouldn't have to spend any money at all. However, by including the information about what the previous police department requested, I pretty much guaranteed they would request the same thing. Therefore, if they were going to deny me outright with just a yes answer to question #26, I potentially saved myself a lot of money by including this extra information and thereby causing them to request the doctor's letter. Of course, if they would have just approved me even with a yes answer to question #26, then I cost myself more money...but since I've read that a lot of NJ municipalities look for any excuse to deny firearms applications, I figured it was more likely they would deny me outright and therefore by including the extra information I believe I've caused them to allow me to submit such a letter to get approved, which is cheaper than having to hire an attorney for an appeals process. I feel that even with an affirmative answer to question #26, a letter shouldn't necessarily be required and a denial shouldn't necessarily be the only action taken if no letter is provided - it is extremely unfair, but apparently that's how NJ seems to be running this process and so I had no real choice but to play by their rules...and now I'm just trying to see if there's any way I can locate a doctor to examine me and write such a letter without having to hire the attorney to refer me and thereby pay more...

Except the GP didn't treat me - I was treated a while back by a psychiatrist that I no longer have any business (patient/doctor) relationship with. My current GP might be willing to write such a letter - I'm not sure - but I get the impression that's not exactly what they are looking for. I think they want a doctor to write a letter that specifically states that I pose no danger if I were to be granted a firearms permit and then purchase and possess a firearm. Actually, I'm almost positive that's what they are looking for based on a voice mail message they left me recently after I submitted the new application.

I'm not really sure what you mean by "you screwed yourself by doing that" - if you are referring to how I answered question #26, then I disagree with you completely. I am absolutely not going to answer a question falsely or lie on a question that I am submitting to a police department in this fashion. I am posting with a very specific question - and that is if anyone can help me in locating a doctor, physician, or psychiatrist that might be willing to conduct an examination on me and then write an appropriate letter to the police department. I respectfully request that if you do not have an answer to this question, then you simply do not respond to this thread instead of responding in the manner in which you did. Thank you.

So, I decided to shelve the plan to acquire a firearm for the time being (back in mid-2013). However, recently I have moved and now I am no longer in an apartment building (where there is a doorman, etc. between any potential robber/bad person and me) but rather in a townhouse where it is somewhat more likely that a firearm might be needed for self-defense. As a result, I've decided to once again go about trying to obtain one. I spoke with the detective lieutenant at the previous town I was living in and informed him I was moving and he agreed to simply "pend" the application for a while and not just outright deny it (since I wasn't going to be living there any longer and therefore a denial was in order - this way I wouldn't have to answer that I was previously denied on my new application in my current town - very nice of the detective lieutenant and I appreciate it). I then submitted a new application to my current town. With the application I submitted a letter explaining the situation from the previous town and how they had wanted a doctor's letter for question #26, etc. And of course, the new town wants the same doctor's letter. I know that it's possible I could have not submitted this at all and they might have possibly approved me in spite of question #26, but I weighed my options and thought that it was just as likely that they might just outright deny me due to question #26 and then I'd need to obtain a lawyer to appeal (and I've heard the appeals process is at least $3,000). I thought that if push comes to shove and I have to pay a lawyer $1,000 + a doctor, it would still be cheaper than having to appeal a denial. Anyway, before I go that route, I figured I'd take one last stab at it on here and see if anyone might be able to refer me to a doctor in NJ (or nearby, such as NYC, etc.) that might be willing to conduct a thorough examination on me and then, if he/she feels it's appropriate, write a letter stating that I pose no danger if I were to possess a firearm. Once more, I reiterate that I'm not trying to doctor shop, but that unfortunately I can understand that very few doctors would be willing to write such a letter considering the potential liability it could cause them, and therefore I am forced to resort to trying to get a referral from someone that might know such a doctor or have used such a doctor before. If anyone can offer any assistance, I greatly appreciate it. Feel free to post the information on here or to PM me if you find that a better way to communicate such information. Thanks once more!

Hi, I'm hoping someone on here might be able to assist me. I'm a 32 yr old employed individual located in Northern NJ that is trying to obtain a firearms permit and a pistol permit so that I can legally purchase and own a handgun in NJ. I submitted all the paperwork to my local police department, waited the required time posted on their website with no response, and then followed up with them only to find out that by truthfully answering question #26 on the form (mental health treatment), I've put myself in a bind. The detective lieutenant I spoke with told me that in order to proceed I needed to get a letter from a doctor/physician/psychiatrist that indicated what I was being treated for, what medications (if any) I was being prescribed, and that in the doctor's opinion I would pose no threat to myself or others if I was granted a firearms permit. I wrote a letter to my personal physician requesting this (and actually just dropped it off earlier), but am not sure if he would feel comfortable providing this letter. Honestly, if the situation was reversed, I would probably not feel comfortable writing this letter for anyone because it seems to make the doctor liable for my actions indefinitely. It almost seems like this sort of letter is unobtainable, making it therefore impossible for me to proceed. However, in doing some research and talking to some people, I've been told that there are some doctors in NJ that will write such letters (after a thorough examination of course) - I'm not trying to doctor shop really - I'm perfectly willing to submit to a thorough examination to prove that I won't pose any danger if issued a firearms permit. Does anyone know of any physicians/doctors/psychiatrists in NJ that would be able to assist me? I'm located in North NJ about 30 minutes from NYC, but am willing to travel for an appointment (although would prefer not to go out-of-state since this might then appear as if I'm trying to "circumvent" the police department's requirement). Also, just an FYI about my mental health condition that caused me to tick the YES box for question 26 - I've been diagnosed with very mild OCD and general anxiety disorder. I'm being treated for the disorder with very low doses of medicine, but neither of these diagnoses (nor the medicine) should have any impact on my general ability to safely own and operate a firearm. Honestly, I could most likely function perfectly normally without the medicine, but since it does help I never saw any reason not to take advantage of it to make my life somewhat easier. I have never been hospitalized or committed for this or any other reason, I voluntarily sought out this treatment and am being treated solely on a voluntary basis, and have never been involved in any sort of situation with law enforcement such as being arrested, detained, convicted, etc. (except for the occasional speeding and parking tickets). As a result, I feel that I should still qualify to own a firearm under NJ state law, although if I'm wrong about this please feel free to let me know. Otherwise, if anyone knows of any doctors that might be able to assist, or anything else I might/should try, please feel free to respond and let me know! Thanks so much!