I bought a Walther P22 last year.  Love it.

I think that what will most likely be the decision maker is the price of ammo. How can you get proficient and training with your firearm when it costs upward of $1 per round? That is just plain ridiculous. 

2 hours ago, Keeping It Legal said:

I think that what will most likely be the decision maker is the price of ammo. How can you get proficient and training with your firearm when it costs upward of $1 per round? That is just plain ridiculous. 

Can't conceal carry in N.J. anyway so how proficient do you have to be?  

  

True, but a few years ago when I would go to the range in PA, I could spend a few hours there going through hundreds of rounds without worrying about the cost. Takes the fun out of it if I have to sell a few pints of blood to get range time in.

Probably another silly question, but please have patience since I am a newbie to the process.  I understand now that if I buy from a gun store in NJ that the FFL transfer isn't necessary.  If I buy online or out of state I will need to pay for the FFL transfer.  This is a question on the tax issue.  If I buy a gun in Delaware, which does not have sales tax, will I have to pay tax on the purchase or will the local sales tax, or non-sales tax rate apply?  That can actually offset the cost of the FFL transfer if I don't have to pay sales tax.  I'm leaning towards buying a 9MM at this point since I was able to find ammo.  I was able to pick up 350 rounds at a reasonable price ($27.99 for boxes of 50). I'll make a new post on the actual questions towards the guns that I am looking at.

FFl transfer always applies.  If you buy it from a local NJ shop, they do not charge a transfer fee but you still pay NICS @ $16 for a handgun.  Buying out of state to save tax is probably a bad idea since a $500 pistol will save you $30 on tax but you then spend $45 and up +NICS to have them do the transfer.  A $2,000 gun would justify the transfer.  You have to weigh it out. 

1 hour ago, Keeping It Legal said:

  If I buy a gun in Delaware, which does not have sales tax, will I have to pay tax on the purchase or will the local sales tax, or non-sales tax rate apply?  That can actually offset the cost of the FFL transfer if I don't have to pay sales tax.  

As mentioned the tax savings is not worth it. A handgun would still have to be shipped to a N.J. FFL, plus the transfer fee = $50-60. 

Buying online would probably be the cheapest option unless you find a deal locally, (unlikely in the current market). 

 

I bit the bullet, so to speak, and purchased a Mossberg MC1SC  9mm from Bass Pro. It's currently on sale for $369 and seems like a nice piece. I've been to some local stores and didn't seem to have stock in the price range I was looking at. Everything I saw was over $500 for things that I saw online for much cheaper. They also didn't have any ammo for whatever I would have purchased. Hopefully I will like how it handles. I read enough reviews and saw enough videos to be convinced that it's a good purchase. I couldn't find it at a range unfortunately, so fingers crossed!

On 5/26/2021 at 7:48 PM, Keeping It Legal said:

This is a question on the tax issue.  If I buy a gun in Delaware, which does not have sales tax, will I have to pay tax on the purchase or will the local sales tax, or non-sales tax rate apply?  That can actually offset the cost of the FFL transfer if I don't have to pay sales tax.

If you buy online and have it shipped to an NJ FFL a lot of the bigger online retailers will charge you NJ sales tax at that time. If they do not, when you file your NJ tax return you will (of course) declare the untaxed purchase and pay the sales tax with your tax return.

If you buy in person outside NJ and the handgun is shipped to an NJ FFL you will the local sales tax (none in DE) and only need to pay NJ sales tax on the transfer fee charged by the FFL. Some FFLs will also add sales tax to the NJ NICS fee which is not correct, but some will do it anyway.