within 30 days

[Destinydog 9]

Am i undertanding this correctly that pistol permits must be granted or denied within 30 days?

 

"The Permit to Purchase or FID must be granted to a qualified applicant within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application for residents and 45 days for nonresident applicants.

"

 

i would asume this is 30 days and not 30 business days..

 

Has anyone raised this issue and won?

[Maksim 1,504]

Yes, that is the law.... however not really enforceable. If you know your refrences have been sent out and received back, start counting 30 days. Then call the PD and politely ask about the status.

[Destinydog 9]

yeah my refernces brought them in person the very next day after they recieved them. However if i read that correctly it says has been recieved not have gotten all of the references back.

[Maksim 1,504]

Yes, but once again.... there is the Law, and the way it is. There have been alot of posts discussing the same thing.

 

Best things to do, after 30 days, politely call and ask for status.... if you know they received all the paperwork and now it is just sitting on someone's desk, call the mayor.

 

Otherwise, yes, we know it is illegal. Yes, towns have been taken to court over it. No, it did not change anything. No, they do not care. Yes, there are organizations that are working on this issue and trying to get it resolved. =)

[StephanieSeven 70]

I repeat... this state is so ef'ed up.

[Destinydog 9]

thanks for the info.

[Maksim 1,504]

quite welcome.

[surfgod247 0]

Am i undertanding this correctly that pistol permits must be granted or denied within 30 days?

 

"The Permit to Purchase or FID must be granted to a qualified applicant within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application for residents and 45 days for nonresident applicants.

"

 

i would asume this is 30 days and not 30 business days..

 

Has anyone raised this issue and won?

 

 

My last permits took about 60 days, I finally called a lawyer that handles gun laws in NJ and he says even if you bring them ( the township ) to court, it doesn't play out in our favor even though we have the law on our side. Besides what everyone else told you to do you can write your local pd, just say I dropped off my permits on x date it has been x amount of time and would like a update on the status. What the lawyer told me is send it certified mail and make sure they have to sign for it. He said that the police will look at it as you might be trying to build a case and should greatly speed things up. Last time I sent my letter a week after I sent it I got a phone call telling me to stop in for my permits.

[BRaptor 68]

 

Has anyone raised this issue and won?

 

Yes, the issue has been raised. No, nobody has won. That "requirement" has been gutted by the courts.

 

Here, read this blog post and NJ Appellate Opinion.

[joejaxx 38]

Yes, the issue has been raised. No, nobody has won. That "requirement" has been gutted by the courts.

 

Here, read this blog post and NJ Appellate Opinion.

 

The funny thing is this case that everyone keeps talking about was just talking about PDs not having to issue the card and permits until the FBI background check are back in. Nothing else was brought up as a hindrance (references etc) to a delay of an approval within 30 days (or immediately if the FBI was just received and it had been over 30 days). I just found this interesting when I went to search for the case a couple of days ago.

[BRaptor 68]

The funny thing is this case that everyone keeps talking about was just talking about PDs not having to issue the card and permits until the FBI background check are back in. Nothing else was brought up as a hindrance (references etc) to a delay of an approval within 30 days (or immediately if the FBI was just received and it had been over 30 days). I just found this interesting when I went to search for the case a couple of days ago.

 

You're right, the decision could have been confined to FBI/SBI delay. But, the court expanded its ruling to say the granting of the FID may be delayed "for good cause." Meaning, the question may come down to if the Chief has been "diligent," then the court will find the delay in granting is "for good cause." So, in order to win a case on lengthy delay under that test, you would have to beg the court to find that the Chief wasn't diligent (i.e. the Chief was at least negligent).

 

I would venture to guess that it doesn't matter if the PD is waiting for FBI/SBI history, personal references or mental-health information, you're still not getting that permit even if the PD was negligent, even grossly negligent, because of the "public policy underlying the statute" of keeping firearms out of the hands of bad guys. I'd further venture that from the wording of the decision, courts might interpret it to say that the delay has to be arbitrary or capricious (meaning, all information has to be in to the PD and the Chief just doesn't feel like issuing an FID to you, because you said his breath smells funny or his mom likes sailors).

 

Overall, while the beginning of the Appellate decision claims to only answer the question of "whether the chief of police may withhold rendering a decision on an application where the reports of the SBI and the FBI have not been received within that thirty day period," the dicta indicates the Chief may delay "for good cause," which includes incomplete information in the file and only once the file is complete and it shows that you are not barred from obtaining a firearm, "the “good cause” for the denial of the permit evaporates, and an identification card must be granted immediately."

 

Of course, the above is a lot of extrapolation from one decision and it would be necessary to read how the lower courts have interpreted the ruling in order to confirm the guesses that I made. But, I'd be willing to bet that I'm close.

[Destinydog 9]

So tommorow is 30 days since all of my references were returned, to call or not to call is the question?

[Destinydog 9]

Also can anyone point me towards the statute that states they have 30 days? I want to be well prepared if i do decide to call.

[BRaptor 68]

Also can anyone point me towards the statute that states they have 30 days? I want to be well prepared if i do decide to call.

 

N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(f)

 

f.Granting of permit or identification card; fee; term; renewal; revocation. The application for the permit to purchase a handgun together with a fee of $2, or the application for the firearms purchaser identification card together with a fee of $5, shall be delivered or forwarded to the licensing authority who shall investigate the same and, unless good cause for the denial thereof appears, shall grant the permit or the identification card, or both, if application has been made therefor, within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application for residents of this State and within 45 days for nonresident applicants. A permit to purchase a handgun shall be valid for a period of 90 days from the date of issuance and may be renewed by the issuing authority for good cause for an additional 90 days. A firearms purchaser identification card shall be valid until such time as the holder becomes subject to any of the disabilities set forth in subsection c. of this section, whereupon the card shall be void and shall be returned within five days by the holder to the superintendent, who shall then advise the licensing authority. Failure of the holder to return the firearms purchaser identification card to the superintendent within the said five days shall be an offense under subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:39-10. Any firearms purchaser identification card may be revoked by the Superior Court of the county wherein the card was issued, after hearing upon notice, upon a finding that the holder thereof no longer qualifies for the issuance of such permit. The county prosecutor of any county, the chief police officer of any municipality or any citizen may apply to such court at any time for the revocation of such card.

 

It might be best to ask the PD if they are waiting for anything. If they say they are not waiting for anything, then you MIGHT cite the statute to them. Of course, citing statutes to the PD is a good way to get on someone's bad side (no, it shouldn't matter if you piss them off, but support staff can make your life easier or a lot more difficult).

 

A better way may be to ask if they are waiting for anything and then ask if there's anything you can do to help the process along (no, I don't mean a bribe ). If they say they aren't waiting for anything and there's nothing you can do, you may wish to think about making a call to the NJSP Firearms Unit or filing a comlaint in the NJ Superior Court. It really depends on how much in the way of waves you're willing to make.

 

BEST OF LUCK!!

[KpdPipes 388]

Also can anyone point me towards the statute that states they have 30 days? I want to be well prepared if i do decide to call.

 

Do what you want..but understand that while the statute may say "30 days' there is also caselaw that supercedes that 30 day rule.

[halbautomatisch 60]

Sad to say but 30 days is not unusual in many towns.

 

The last two batches of permits I did took 5-6 weeks because I filed exemptions with them and they were not familiar with the new exemption forms so they let everything sit.

 

I had to make several polite calls to get them to finally call the SP to ask them what to do with the new forms.

 

It could be worse I hear of people waiting 6 months in towns with no local PD.

[Destinydog 9]

N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(f)

where can thi actual document be found? i ahve downlaoded the pdf of laws from the state police website and it is not in there which makes me wonder if something has been changed?

[BRN169 6]

N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(f)

where can thi actual document be found? i ahve downlaoded the pdf of laws from the state police website and it is not in there which makes me wonder if something has been changed?

 

All current NJ laws can be found on-line here:

 

NEW JERSEY PERMANENT STATUTES

 

2C:58-3. Purchase of firearms.

 

f.Granting of permit or identification card; fee; term; renewal; revocation. The application for the permit to purchase a handgun together with a fee of $2, or the application for the firearms purchaser identification card together with a fee of $5, shall be delivered or forwarded to the licensing authority who shall investigate the same and, unless good cause for the denial thereof appears, shall grant the permit or the identification card, or both, if application has been made therefor, within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application for residents of this State and within 45 days for nonresident applicants. A permit to purchase a handgun shall be valid for a period of 90 days from the date of issuance and may be renewed by the issuing authority for good cause for an additional 90 days. A firearms purchaser identification card shall be valid until such time as the holder becomes subject to any of the disabilities set forth in subsection c. of this section, whereupon the card shall be void and shall be returned within five days by the holder to the superintendent, who shall then advise the licensing authority. Failure of the holder to return the firearms purchaser identification card to the superintendent within the said five days shall be an offense under subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:39-10. Any firearms purchaser identification card may be revoked by the Superior Court of the county wherein the card was issued, after hearing upon notice, upon a finding that the holder thereof no longer qualifies for the issuance of such permit. The county prosecutor of any county, the chief police officer of any municipality or any citizen may apply to such court at any time for the revocation of such card.

 

There shall be no conditions or requirements added to the form or content of the application, or required by the licensing authority for the issuance of a permit or identification card, other than those that are specifically set forth in this chapter.