TRENTON, NJ – Obtaining a firearm in NJ the legal way is wrought with delay.
New Jersey residents that are seeking to obtain a Firearms ID (FID) or a Permit to Purchase a Handgun (P2P) have been experiencing an extraordinary delay. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as rioting and calls to defund the Police, many people have become concerned with keeping themselves and their family safe. NJ FID’s and P2P’s are supposed to take a maximum of 30 days to be approved, however, even with the change to the new NJ FARS (Firearms Application & Registration System), applications are taking much longer than the mandated 30 day time period.
by Nick Wong for Black Wire Media
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With the NJ FARS system, the state-run background check took exactly 30 days, after which the whole application gets sent to your local Police Department (or closest NJ State Police Barracks) for further investigation. We contacted our local Police Department a week after the NJ FARS Background check was completed, and were told that there are 8 additional checks that have to be done (Juvenile records, Domestic Violence, Family Court, and more). The Police Dept. representative also stated that they received a year’s worth of FID/PP Applications in the past few months, and other police departments have confirmed the same in their own townships.
As of today, the time waiting for the author’s submitted application to be cleared through the system is over 50 days.
To add additional fuel to the fire, the redundant NJ NICS Checks AT POINT OF SALE (your FFL’s gun counter) are taking an extra period of 5-7 business days, apparently due to a “significant increase in requests” as per the NJ NICS website. So – once your 50+ day waiting period is over, you still have to wait an extra week to take possession of your firearm AFTER you’ve purchased it – that’s coming up on over 2 months of a waiting period!
“If I’m NOT a first-time gun buyer, and I’ve been collecting & shooting for YEARS, is it conceivable I would commit a felony with a firearm I’m just buying and waiting MONTHS to REGISTER & possess? Making someone like me undergo a background check (and thereby clog the NICS portal further by increasing the backlog) should STOP with transfer number xxx” —Dave Rosenthal, Shootist
The sheer amount of redundancy required to obtain a Firearms ID and purchase a firearm the legal way is causing an undue amount of burden on the residents of New Jersey. This is especially concerning due to the reports that (illegal) gun violence is on the rise here in NJ and nearby New York City. Shooting deaths in NJ have risen 19%, however the numbers have not been released on how many of these are suicides. Governor Phil Murphy stated in a recent press conference that “We are probably as good a shape in terms of gun safety as any American state, it just goes to show you it’s still out there.” Does this not mean that overly redundant checks as well as the antiquated, overburdened and un-scalable NJ Firearms ID system is completely unnecessary?
BLACK WIRE MEDIA EDITOR’s NOTE:
Nick Wong has been a firearms owner for decades, and uses all popular platforms. He volunteers with CNJFO as a member of our Shows & Community Outreach Committee, and is our lead instructor for Tony Simon’s Diversity Shoots at the Gun For Hire Woodland Park Range. An avid outdoorsman, Wong also runs the Clay Shoots for the New Jersey Gun Forums at the Clinton WMA. We hope you enjoy his first article for us as much as we enjoyed (hardly) editing it.
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