How Long Does It Really Take For A Pistol Permit?

NJ & Federal Gun Laws and Activism
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With the new(er) online NJ Fars system how long does it really take to process pistol permits?

I submit the application and within seconds my references get an automated email. They immediately fill it out, then I get an instant automated confirmation. Within 24hrs my town contacts me to come pay the permit fees. At this point I believe the NJSP background check is completed and the permits are forwarded to the township to just basically be signed off on by the Chief. So, I reasonably believe we should have them within 2-3 days maximum. But I hear people saying it still takes them 30 days and 60 days to get them. Is this the local police departments just unnecessarily delaying approving the permits?

What say you?

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I’d wager that it isn’t malicious, it just isn’t a priority for most departments. They probably have a certain number of hours/days allotted to the task of approving pistol permits.

Also, with NICS I believe the process is entirely obsolete. I believe the only reason it still exists is to add costs and inconvenience to the process.

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My town, Manalapan, has a retired officer come in one day a week to handle all permitting (Thursday). Normally I have my permits in a week to 10 days from the first thursday. If there a lot of people sending in at once, it can get backed up a little and take an extra week.

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And NJ insists on handling all checks using their 1990’s era computer systems

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Brick Township makes you come in and pay up front for the permit before they will process it, the girl said they do it this way because so many people would apply get approved and never come in to pay and receive their permit. Brick has one officer working on permits and brick is a large township, permits in hand take anywhere from two to four weeks, depending on holidays.

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But what is the procedure on the police department side besides collecting money? It seems everything is done on the NJSP level and just handed over for approval. Heck, they don’t even have to print them out anymore. And let me be clear, I’m not talking intial FID/Pistol Permits that requires fingerprinting, etc, just additional permits once you’re established.

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And then after all that, they only send you a file for you to print out, rather than a card that you can keep in your wallet. So then you can either have it laminated, trim the edges to fit in your wallet, and have them fray all the time, or pay a company like Liberty Cards (who do an excellent job) to create a nice, professionally done card for you.

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