SO YOU WANT TO OWN A GUN IN NEW JERSEY ...

Want to buy a gun in New Jersey ?? It's way too easy, according to the Anti-Gun lobbyists ! All you need is:
1. Application,completely filled out.
2. Two (2) References.
3. Mental Health Form signed.
4. Copy of Driver's License.
5. One (1) State Fingerprint Card.
6. One (1) FBI Fingerprint Card.
7. $ 49.00 Money Order, payable to: NJ State Police- SBI.
8. $ 5.00 Cash for ID Card.
9. $ 2.00 Cash for each Handgun Purchase Permit.

If you can pass official scrutiny, you will be issued a Firearms Purchaser's ID Card-which must be presented to ( and recorded by ) the Seller, before you can purchase a rifle, shotgun, or airgun. If you are planning to buy a pistol or revolver, you will also need a Handgun Purchase Permit.

These documents allow you to purchase a firearm; they do not authorize you to carry a handgun beyond the confines of your residence or business.
If you are transporting a rifle or shotgun-to the range or the game fields-the weapon must be unloaded, securely csaed, and stored in a part of the vehicle not readily accessible to the driver.

You may not own or possess any ammunition with soft nose, or hollow point bullets.Solid lead is OK;FMJ is OK.( Only shotguns are permitted on the game fields-magazine capacity limited to 3 rounds-total; no "pumpkin balls" , saboted rounds, or rifled slugs. )

Don't even think about owning any semi-automatic weapon with a magazine capacity exceeding 10 rounds ! ( This includes .22's )A special Assault Weapon Permit must be obtained...and is almost never granted. )

Any attempts to modify NJ gun laws, or make them semi-rational, are met by a Media hue and cry , and concerted, determined efforts to drive the politician(s) responsible out of office for all time.

So, you say, there must be just about zero gun crime in New Jersey. Let's put it this way : law-abiding, gun-owning citizens seldom commit crimes of violence. They never did. Criminals, on the other hand, buy all the guns they want - on the street - and engage regularly in " drive-bys ", robberies ,murders, etc. If they get caught, they get mandatory additional prison time...which sounds tough until you realize it adds ( at best ) a week or two to their parole ineligibility period !

Good post, Gene: New Jersey IS one of the worst, if not THE worst, state in the union for the RKBA.

Still, your post contains some inaccurate statements of the law. You are allowed to hunt in NJ with slugs and sabots--I'm going for deer with my Mossberg 695 slug gun, complete with sabots. Don't know where you heard otherwise. And for you hunters, NJ has probably the most liberal bag limits in the country, largely because we've got deer all over the place. In most of the state, you can kill an UNLIMITED number of antlerless deer on one permit, even taking two deer at a time, and you can hunt till Groundhog Day.

Also, Geno, you are allowed to have hollow point bullets in NJ, subject to the same possession rules for your gun. For example, you can have hollow points in your home, at your business, or at the shooting range. Just don't carry one loose in your pocket at the mall, or you've technically broken the law.

No doubt we've got problems here in Jersey with 2d amendment issues, but you Joisy bashers, well--you've never been to our beaches or our mountains. There's lots of nice spots in the crowded Garden State--and some pretty good hunting.

What's worse is that individual municipalities are making up their own requirements and tacking on fees. This is illegal, but if no one calls them to the carpet on it, it remains.

One example - a resident of East Orange recently went to apply for a permit. In addition to all the other insulting garbage, they specified that his references should be people he's known for more than three years (taken from the CCW requirements), and they also wanted proof of employment.

NJ CODE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
2C:58-3. Purchase of Firearms

e. Applications. Applications for permits to purchase a handgun and for firearms purchaser identification cards shall be in the form prescribed by the superintendent and shall set forth the name, residence, place of business, age, date of birth, occupation, sex and physical description, including distinguishing physical characteristics, if any, of the applicant, and shall state whether the applicant is a citizen, whether he is an alcoholic, habitual drunkard, drug dependent person as defined in section 2 of P.L.1970, c.226 (C.24:21-2), whether he has ever been confined or committed to a mental institution or hospital for treatment or observation of a mental or psychiatric condition on a temporary, interim or permanent basis, giving the name and location of the institution or hospital and the dates of such confinement or commitment, whether he has been attended, treated or observed by any doctor or psychiatrist or at any hospital or mental institution on an inpatient or outpatient basis for any mental or psychiatric condition, giving the name and location of the doctor, psychiatrist, hospital or institution and the dates of such occurrence, whether he presently or ever has been a member of any organization which advocates or approves the commission of acts of force and violence to overthrow the Government of the United States or of this State, or which seeks to deny others their rights under the Constitution of either the United States or the State of New Jersey, whether he has ever been convicted of a crime or disorderly persons offense, whether the person is subject to a court order issued pursuant to section 13 of P.L.1991, c.261 (C.2C:25-29) prohibiting the person from possessing any firearm, and such other information as the superintendent shall deem necessary for the proper enforcement of this chapter. For the purpose of complying with this subsection, the applicant shall waive any statutory or other right of confidentiality relating to institutional confinement. The application shall be signed by the applicant and shall contain as references the names and addresses of two reputable citizens personally acquainted with him. Application blanks shall be obtainable from the superintendent, from any other officer authorized to grant such permit or identification card, and from licensed retail dealers.
The chief police officer or the superintendent shall obtain the fingerprints of the applicant and shall have them compared with any and all records of fingerprints in the municipality and county in which the applicant resides and also the records of the State Bureau of Identification and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, provided that an applicant for a handgun purchase permit who possesses a valid firearms purchaser identification card, or who has previously obtained a handgun purchase permit from the same licensing authority for which he was previously fingerprinted, and who provides other reasonably satisfactory proof of his identity, need not be fingerprinted again; however, the chief police officer or the superintendent shall proceed to investigate the application to determine whether or not the applicant has become subject to any of the disabilities set forth in this chapter.
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 $2.00, or the application for the firearms purchaser identification card together with a fee of $5.00, 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 section 2C:39-10a. 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.

Best thing you can do is familiarize yourself with state law before you make your application. If your town is giving you a hard time, make some noise in the direction of the NJ State Police. You HAVE to speak up.

Just a few more inaccuracies that need correcting:

1.) We can have 15 round magazines on semi-auto handguns and rifles, we are not limited to 10. We can possess larger magazines, so long as they are blocked down to 15 rounds. For a pump or bolt action, the magazine capacity is only limited by physics, not law.

2.) We can have semi-autos, just not certain ones. There is a list. Uzi is banned by name, so the Uzi 9mm pistol that looks like a CZ is banned. The Intratec Tec-9 is banned, but the Marlin Camp 9 is okay. AK-47 is banned, the Ruger Mini-30 in the same caliber is fine. Surprisingly, post-ban ARs are legit here, so one can own an Armalite AR-10 in 308.

3.) NJ's semi-auto ban has been found unconstitutional in Monmouth County, but upheld in Hunterdon. I don't know how Monmouth is prosecuting, but the split in the courts may bring this to a decision.

4.) Why live in NJ? We have a lot of congressmen. Someone has to watch them.

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