I’ve got some good friends in New Jersey that I visit regularly. We may go and do some Fudd activities (sporting clays) from time to time, I like to use my favorite scattergun. It’s always been an issue or concern. But no longer.
I started the process to get my New Jersey FID card, also known as FPIC (Firearms Purchaser ID Card), so I would be lawful in transporting my shotgun from the Bay State to the Garden State. It was February 16 of this year when I started the process. I knew it was a long shot and that it probably wasn’t going to happen, but I wanted to get the FID card before the CNJFO/Women for Gun Rights event back in April. We were planning on doing some sporting clays at M&M in Pennsville, N.J. My first email said I was able to meet in person on Feb 23, 2024.
The first thing I needed to do was sit through the online course from the New Jersey State Police. I did find the website a little confusing and hard to navigate. Eventually, I found the PowerPoint which had everything I needed to know to get an FID card. I’m a guy who really enjoys revolvers. I was excited to see one used in the presentation rather than the usual bottom feeders shown for courses. I was completely shocked to see that it was a top break revolver in the presentation. Those aren’t quite relevant, even for this revolver fan. It wasn’t that difficult to get through, it took some time. And $50.
After I did the online portion, I had to find a place that did electronic fingerprints that would ship them down to the NJSP. I went to an Identigo 30 minutes or so from where I live. They were able to process everything. And I believe the company is owned by one of the New Jersey oligarchs. After the fingerprints were done, I thought the lady submitted everything to the Totowa barracks. This was another $98.
The references I submitted went through very quickly. I have known fellow News2A contributor John Petrolino for more than two years so I used him as a reference. I also used one of my local friends who lives in Massachusetts. She took a couple days to fill out the reference form. I got a notification email when each of them were accepted.
From there, the wait was on.
On March 1, 2024, I emailed wondering what was going on. I didn’t get a reply until March 18.
Later that month, on March 18, 2024, NJSP emailed me saying they didn’t get the fingerprints. I took a trip with my receipt back to Identigo, which was in a Liberty Tax office. Of course, the woman who took them wasn’t around and the man who was there wasn’t able to help me. Another hour of driving and time, down the drain. I emailed the NJSP the receipt and the date I did the fingerprinting. The first email from NJSP is always the stern “read the entire email” and often “do not reply” emails. I see them as “do not reply… or else.” The second one is usually from a human who replies. This time, the first one said I submitted the wrong number. I did reply that I didn’t submit anything, it was the Identigo employee. They were able to figure it out and make the correction. Of course, I thanked them.
In April, while I was in the Garden State for the CNJFO/WGR event without my shotty, I got a notification that I needed to submit my local town police information. I don’t know why that’s needed but I guess I didn’t include it. The worrying continues. Maybe they’ll never get to me. Maybe they’ll tell me since it wasn’t completed in 90 days or since I didn’t submit everything, I’ll have to start over. While I’m trying to be polite and professional, the first replies back from NJSP are usually the cold, robo emails. But I’m trying to ask questions and get to a human to find out what I’m not doing correctly.
I reached out again on May 7, 2024, wondering what the next step was or what I needed to provide. I needed to provide my town’s police department information. After waiting through May, June, July, August, and most of September, I decided that I should write and inquire as to how the process is going. The email of “don’t ask questions” came through. A day later I got a human reply that said they’re processing applications from March 2023. I’m about to give up hope.
On Thursday, Sept 19, I decided that I was going to write to NJSP and see what was going on. I dug up a previous email, in hopes that they could reference it and see how long it’s been, and forwarded it with a new message on top.
Then I awoke to an email that arrived at 4:00 am on September 24. My application had been approved! I can transport a long gun to and through New Jersey, lawfully with the state’s permission. Excitedly, I screenshotted the email and sent text messages to a couple NJ friends. I was a little shocked, dismayed (?) to find out all I was getting was a PDF I needed to screenshot and that’s my official document.
Being a fan of the Gun For Hire Radio and Gun Lawyer podcasts, I knew I needed to reach out to NJ Liberty Cards to get a hard copy. Then it would be official. I put the order in that day. Chad Aaronson from NJ Liberty Cards got back to me right away. I didn’t tell him I’m from Riding Shotgun With Charlie or write for News2A. He said he enjoys RSWC and thanked me for doing the show. And he was honored that I ordered the card through his company. Later that day, I got a notification from the “shop” app that my order was being processed, then shipped later that day.
While traveling to host the Gun Rights Policy Conference in San Diego, I got the notification that the card had been delivered. I was thrilled to see it only took two days from ordering it to get it in the mail. Thanks, Chad!
The next step: find a time to take a CCARE qualification at Gun For Hire. So the cost I’m estimating here, but I’m looking at several hundred dollars to exercise my right to self-defense in the land of Tony Soprano. Here’s what I’ll be spending: $50 for the online PowerPoint for the FID. $98 for fingerprints. CCARE qual is about $250. And then $200 for the PTC. So about $600 in total. And it’s only good for 2 years. That’s not counting the gas, time, and tolls. You can’t forget the tolls in Jersey! Then I can transport and CARRY while I’m visiting Casa de Petrolino.
