CC NJ Problem

[El Jefe 49]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but I need the forum help for a solution.

I applied for concealed carry and after 4 months got approved. On Feb 6 I received the approval email with a link to download the document.

The link didn't work, so I couldn't download my permit.

I contacted support, the next day they asked me for the picture again for verification and since then nothing....

I called them numerous times; they tell me that the call center cannot do anything and that they cannot transfer me to the people that can help.

As of today Feb 23, I still have no permit to carry and never heard back from them.

Anyone knows how to solve this situation?

[Mr.Stu 1,922]

Call your PD and ask them to help.

[El Jefe 49]

3 minutes ago, Mr.Stu said:

Call your PD and ask them to help.

Did that, they say they cannot access the docoment...

[Mr.Stu 1,922]

6 minutes ago, El Jefe said:

Did that, they say they cannot access the docoment...

Try the FIU at NJSP then. They own the FARS system.

[El Jefe 49]

3 minutes ago, Mr.Stu said:

Try the FIU at NJSP then. They own the FARS system.

Thank you! Any idea how to reach them?

[Mr.Stu 1,922]

19 minutes ago, El Jefe said:

Thank you! Any idea how to reach them?

Email them at [email protected] Make sure you explain that you have already tried to resolve the issue through your PD, otherwise they will tell you that as they were not the entity that processed your application, it is not their problem.

NB. They do not take phone calls. Our tax dollars at work!

[Tunaman 549]

9 hours ago, Mr.Stu said:

Email them at [email protected] Make sure you explain that you have already tried to resolve the issue through your PD, otherwise they will tell you that as they were not the entity that processed your application, it is not their problem.

NB. They do not take phone calls. Our tax dollars at work!

I tried contacting them through that email.  It goes to nowhere.  I had to go to the Attorney General website and contact someone there...eventually I got a reply back from the Firearms unit via email.

[FDHog 613]

This whole system sucks. 

[JohnnyB 4,325]

8 minutes ago, FDHog said:

This whole system sucks. 

It was designed to suck!  They don't want us to have guns and they don't want us alive! Because we are patriots and we love the Constitution and our country as our founders designed it, we are racist, supremacist threats to democracy as THEY see it!  I hate them all!

[oldguysrule649 397]

OP, perhaps a long shot. I assume you are using a PC to download the doc. Do you normally run any VPN software such as for example Nordvpn? If so, try “pause”ing it or log completely out of it. See if that helps. I have had issues in other (not gun related) situations where it gave me link issues. 

[Grima Squeakersen 482]

On 2/26/2024 at 7:50 AM, oldguysrule649 said:

OP, perhaps a long shot. I assume you are using a PC to download the doc. Do you normally run any VPN software such as for example Nordvpn? If so, try “pause”ing it or log completely out of it. See if that helps. I have had issues in other (not gun related) situations where it gave me link issues. 

Yes, that is worth a try, but I'm skeptical it is the problem. If the OP is on a VPN he may also have JavaScript disabled, and should also try enabling that for the site. I am always on a VPN (Proton) with JS completely disabled when browsing. I selectively enable JS permissions (or  disable VPN, as a last resort) until a site or page functions adequately. My experience indicates that any security that bars VPN use is usually in place for an entire domain, not just a single page or document. I have been on both the NJSP.org site and the FARS site using my VPN with no issue, but I did not get to the point of downloading a permit. There is a possibility that the NJ FARS site hands the browsing session off to a third party domain (identogo, or the like) for download of the actual permit document, in which case VPN  (or JS) could be the problem for that site. That has happened to me when placing an online order for an item at a site, which then transfers me to a payment processor (e.g. Square) for providing credit card information. Even if this is so, it in no way excuses the abysmal, irresponsible, buck-passing horseshit that the OP encountered when trying to resolve the issue with NJ "authoratah" 

edited to add:  Yesterday, I received an long delayed (a story recounted elsewhere in these forums) email invitation from NJSP FIU to go to the NJPortal site to complete a reference form for a buddy's NJ Permit to Carry application. Actually, I got 2 emaii invitations, one right after the other (morons!) I completed the reference questionnaire while connected via my VPN, FWIW. So if there is any NJSP/NJPortal blocking based on an incoming IP address belonging to a VPN (or on an abuse list, blocking rationales vary) it probably is a third party contractor actually responsible, as speculated above.

[Grima Squeakersen 482]

On 2/25/2024 at 8:32 PM, FDHog said:

This whole system sucks. 

That's a massive understatement.

[ESB 247]

On 2/25/2024 at 8:47 PM, JohnnyB said:

It was designed to suck!  

That's a massive understatement.   

[El Jefe 49]

Thanks everyone for the support. I finally got the issue resolved. 

The https://www.nj.gov/njsp/firearms/[email protected] got on their case and mysteriously they emailed me the actual PDF an hour later. So, to anyone in the future that has the same Issue - email the above as soon as the problem arises.

NJPD responded within a day. They also first told me to use a different browser, after answering that I tried that 3 weeks ago, they resent me the same old link. After answering again that the link is still broken, they asked me to forward them the link.

Once I did, they answered that they see the link is broken and that they contacted the vendor to fix the issue - 10 minutes later I got an email with the PDF attached and the link was fixed. The entire thing was resolved in less than 24 hours after my email to them.

My conclusion is that this is worse than them trying to stop us from having the carry permits. I think that the NJ portal support process is just built in a stupid way. There is a total disconnect between the "support staff" answering the phones and the actual tech support staff. I got a call from a supervisor for the portal support 48 hours after the issue was resolved, saying I should call them back but not leaving their number.

On the other hand, the initial permitting process is 100% biased against us legally carrying.

The initial 4 months it took to process the permit are really not justified. I have been a gun owner for the last 5 years and have been approved twice for pistol purchase, the last one in 2023. Also had background checks for every pistol and rifle I own, so I was vetted numerous times in the last 5 years. What new data can these 4 months yield?

If the permitting process was actually working, someone like me, and most people on this site, should be approved in hours and not months...

[FDHog 613]

Great work. I've had handguns for the past eight years all approved by the same town. I get my permits in an average of 2 weeks, and I have quite a few, yet I'm on day 45 for my CCW. They haven't even called my references yet. There's no reasoning for the way they operate. It's a gun friendly town, but for some reason as far as CCW's go, it's a whole different animal.

[El Jefe 49]

7 minutes ago, FDHog said:

Great work. I've had handguns for the past eight years all approved by the same town. I get my permits in an average of 2 weeks, and I have quite a few, yet I'm on day 45 for my CCW. They haven't even called my references yet. There's no reasoning for the way they operate. It's a gun friendly town, but for some reason as far as CCW's go, it's a whole different animal.

They do not actually call your references anyway!

I was just a reference for 3 of my friends for a normal permit and I gave the needed references for my Carry permit. Neither I nor the 4 references they asked for the CC Permit were ever contacted. Between us chickens, if one day we find out that they actually do nothing with the pistol or Carry permits, other than the system moves it a step once your references answered online, and maybe run the same NICS check they do when you purchase, I will not be surprised at all!

[FDHog 613]

I went up to the PD about 2 weeks ago to make sure they had everything they needed. They were very good about it and actually checked my file. She told me that the officer still had to call my references. I also received calls from Holmdel for 2 friends of mine. So some do call. This is for CCW not P2P.