Hello

Recently moved back to NJ.. Clifton to be Exact. I received a FID card a long time ago from Oakland but have misplaced in my moves. Is every towns protocol for FID cards different? Clifton has me calling a detective to schedule an appointment to hand in my application for FID. Seems odd that I can’t just drop it off at the station. Problem is the detective has yet to answer my calls or return the messages I leave him. Needless to say but it’s frustrating not being able to get my application submitted because I’ve heard it can take months for them to complete  

Has anybody here had a similar experience? Any tips to getting in getting the ball rolling? 

Thanks! Hope this is in the right place. 

Clifton .... that's where I grew up.   A Lot of towns have specific times or days or want appts set.   Nothing surprising there.  Kearny (where I am now) same thing... the detective that handles this stuff has certain hrs on certain days that he does it and wants people to set up appts.

When I first started the process I had to call a bunch of times before I finally got the guy on the phone and got an appt setup.  

as far as processing time .. i dont know how clifton rolls but my stuff, which was an initial FID and P2P's took 86 days from start to finish.  Seems like the average around the state is 3 months...some less .. some more unfortunately.  Would be nice if it was the 30 days which is what state law says.. but we all know noone abides by that.

I've no experience with Clifton, by my town uses the same bullsh*t playbook.  They won't accept applications, or issue the FID or P2P, unless you have an appointment with the detective.  And those appointments are really hard to get.

What is more annoying, is that the town apparently got called out on this, and so the Firearms tab on the PD website prominently states that you can drop off applications "24/7/365". Problem is, when you do this the dispatcher has been coached to tell you that nothing will be processed until you have your appointment.  And by the way, take your application with you because they won't hold it for you. 

They come through eventually, but it adds a month to the process.   I hope your experience is no worse, and ideally a good bit better!

Thanks for the input and well wishes! 

I’ll keep trying and if he doesn’t get back to me I guess I’ll call the town and see if their is a certain time the detective likes to schedule these things. 

 

So what happens when your card wears out a bit....they want you to hand in your card when you renew and then wait forever for a replacement......

Yea ... or get it laminated like everyone else does... Prolongs the life.

1 hour ago, xXxplosive said:

So what happens when your card wears out a bit....

"wears out"??  Just how many firearms are you buying?

 

Nah....from being in your wallet for years or somtin' like that.

If I recall a while ago someone said Clifton was like 6 months.   Just anecdotal though.  Did you try search function for Clifton ?

On 3/13/2018 at 1:03 PM, Kwin said:

Hello

Recently moved back to NJ.. Clifton to be Exact. I received a FID card a long time ago from Oakland but have misplaced in my moves. Is every towns protocol for FID cards different? Clifton has me calling a detective to schedule an appointment to hand in my application for FID. Seems odd that I can’t just drop it off at the station. Problem is the detective has yet to answer my calls or return the messages I leave him. Needless to say but it’s frustrating not being able to get my application submitted because I’ve heard it can take months for them to complete  

Has anybody here had a similar experience? Any tips to getting in getting the ball rolling? 

Thanks! Hope this is in the right place. 

I did not have to turn in my old FID until my new one was ready to go.

So not long after posting this the detective returned my call and I met with him to hand in my paperwork.He informed me that after I consent to mental health search and  my references return the questionnaire the process will then begin. He said he will call me when he receives everything and said it takes about 3 months in total. I know its only supposed to take a month but I wasn't going to call him out on it in fear that he would take even longer.

My references received and sent their paperwork relatively quickly and I went home the same day I met with the detective and paid for my background check.. I still have not heard back from the detective and its been over a month. Think I should call him to see where I stand?

 

 

I would wait and let them have the time to process it.   3 months seems to be an average time frame for most towns. The hold ups seem to be on the return of the mental health check as its done at the state level and batched by county.   The more populous counties take the longest. Seems as if they have 1 person per county doing this work.   You could call and ask .. but you may just piss them off and nothing stops them from taking your paperwork and putting it on the bottom of the stack.  Just be patient, as long as you have nothing that would disqualify you, you will get it.

2 hours ago, Lakota said:

I would wait and let them have the time to process it.   3 months seems to be an average time frame for most towns. The hold ups seem to be on the return of the mental health check as its done at the state level and batched by county.   The more populous counties take the longest. Seems as if they have 1 person per county doing this work.   You could call and ask .. but you may just piss them off and nothing stops them from taking your paperwork and putting it on the bottom of the stack.  Just be patient, as long as you have nothing that would disqualify you, you will get it.

Youre right.. Ill try to be patient.

Update: Tomorrow makes 4 months I have been waiting for the FID.

Called detective last week and left a polite message just asking where were at but no call returned yet.

Don't be surprised if they tell you your paperwork was mysteriously lost. Then you have to start the process all over again just happened to my friend and i heard this from other ppl as well. Seems it happens to the ppl who are waiting for a long time. 

10 hours ago, NJLEFTY said:

Don't be surprised if they tell you your paperwork was mysteriously lost. Then you have to start the process all over again just happened to my friend and i heard this from other ppl as well. Seems it happens to the ppl who are waiting for a long time. 

Really hope that’s not the case. 

This is frustrating.. Hope to get it before the warm weather expires. 

@kwin  how long did it take to get your FID?  I moved from one town over to clifton (allwood) and just applied for a change of address.  Since a change of address is not a simple change of address and it is the entire process again, I applied for 2 pistol permits while I wait.  Was told to expect 3 months turn around.  Could be less then 3 months, but there was a heavy emphasis on expect to wait 3 months. Oh and clifton is not setup for FARS yet. Or at least that's what I was told in person, over the phone and in writing from clifton's directions informing you on how to apply for your FID.