July 29, 2010 by jefhenninger
About a month after McDonald, there are no New Jersey law suits pending but it is hopefully just a matter of time. A number of other law suits have already been filed including two filed by attorney Alan Gura. So far, suits are pending in at least California, New York and Maryland. While every state has their own laws, the courts’ analysis in these cases should have a pretty big impact on a future New Jersey case. The more wins that come up, the better. However, until the NJ Supreme Court issues their decision, nothing is guaranteed.
The National Review has an article about the suits filed after McDonald here.
The SAF press release regarding the Maryland case is here.
Posted in News | Tagged McDonald v. Chicago | Leave a Comment »
July 29, 2010 by jefhenninger
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office will hold a “Guns for Cash” firearms exchange program this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 30 to Aug. 1.
The program will be held at the Asbury Park Police Department on Main Street from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. People can turn in certain types of unwanted weapons for the following cash payments: $25 for shotguns or rifles; $50 for handguns; and $100 for assault weapons, according to the prosecutor’s office. The program is anonymous and voluntary, and you are allowed to transport the weapons to the police station without a gun permit. Weapons should not be concealed but unloaded and in a gun case or sealed container, the prosecutor’s office said. Any other questions should be directed to the prosecutor’s office. This is a great way to get rid of some weapons that may not exactly be legal.
Posted in News | Tagged guns for cash | Leave a Comment »
July 16, 2010 by jefhenninger
This one was tough and it was just about to get real ugly. The police were giving my client the run around so he called me to work on the permit. At first, there was an issues with one of his references but I cleared that up in a week or two. After that, I started getting the run around so I had to make a ton of calls. Right before I was about to really turn up the heat, the permit arrived in the mail.
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July 2, 2010 by jefhenninger
Considering purchasing a pistol or a long arm? You probably already know that you will have to fill out the application but I suggest you view the application before you just go down to the police station to fill it out.
Download the Application for Firearms Purchaser Identification Card/ Application to Purchase a Handgun
As always, while you don’t need an attorney to get a FID card/purchase permit, getting one may help. Read this blog carefully and then call me if you want to hire me for your application.
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July 1, 2010 by jefhenninger
In my opinion, I don’t see much if anything changing in New Jersey after the McDonald case. Remember Heller? Everyone thought that was going to be a huge win for gun rights advocates in New Jersey. Not one thing has changed since Heller as NJ courts have (no pun intended) shot that down. The same will likely happen with with McDonald.
Maybe someone will find a way to change New Jersey for the better, but for now, I’m going to keep fighting for my clients.
Posted in My Practice | 10 Comments »
May 27, 2010 by jefhenninger
Guy called me today because he was denied a gun permit. 10 years ago, he had a domestic violence charge in municipal court and he did not get an attorney. As a result, he was convicted of the charge. When he applied for the permit, he did not put this down. As a result, he was denied due to the charge and falsification. I will probably do the expungement for him and then the application after that. He wanted to know if he could just explain the conviction to avoid having to file for an expungement. However, the conviction itself will bar you. If there is an explanation, there shouldn’t have been a guilty plea in the first place.
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May 27, 2010 by jefhenninger
Client called me for a domestic violence criminal charge to attempt to get the charge dismissed. He wants to get a gun permit and did not want to have any problems. Over the years, he had some domestic violence issues with his family which included a restraining order from the 80′s. Not only was the final restraining order still in place, but he is living with the person and has been for many years! Thus, not only is he looking at criminal charges if the police ever figure this out but he will never get a gun permit with that FRO in place. He just never gave it any thought or realized that it was still in place. So the criminal charge he was worried about is nothing compared to the problem of having a FRO against him. He had he applied for the gun permit, the police would have put two and two together and he would have been arrested for the contempt.
After speaking with me, he should be on track to getting everything worked out. It may take a while, but he should be able to get a gun permit sooner or later.
Posted in My Practice | Tagged Restraining Order | Leave a Comment »
April 4, 2010 by jefhenninger
This was a first for me. Client hired me after waiting several months of getting nowhere with his permit. Within two weeks of hiring me, he received a denial letter. He was upset as was I. No one even called me to explain what the problem was.
I faxed a letter over to the Chief right away. A few minutes later, one of the nicest detectives in the world (who is also a part-time) lawyer called me back. He explained that his hands are tied and that the State Police are denying people left and right. He also said that, thanks to Obama, he is swamped. He also apologized for not calling me before sending out the denial letter but it just slipped his mind.
While he was really nice, there was nothing he could do for me since he is just taking orders. So, I called the Assistant Prosecutor and discussed it with him. Again, another really cool person to deal with but then again, I have a good relationship with everyone at his office that I know. We worked it out and the denial was reversed within a matter of minutes. No appeal needed.
Posted in My Practice | Tagged gun permit denial | Leave a Comment »
March 23, 2010 by jefhenninger
The calls about gun permit denials keep coming in and there is a lot of confusion. There are two types of denials: 1, where you cannot have a gun no matter what (i.e. felony criminal record) and 2, where they don’t want you to have one. Almost everyone has the second type. So, the question I often get is, can they do that?
Well they did. They can and will deny you for any reason right or wrong. If you fail to appeal within 30 days of getting a denial letter, it can be very, very difficult to undo the damage. My advice is to get an attorney to file the appeal within the 30 days. If you failed to file the appeal, you can give me a call and we can see if you can undo the damage. While it is not easy to do, it is possible in some cases but more work is often needed.
Keep in mind, if you get denied and do nothing about it, you are stuck with that denial forever and must always include that on your New Jersey gun permit application.
Posted in My Practice | Tagged gun permit application | Leave a Comment »
Man denied gun permit for dismissed domestic violence charge
July 29, 2010 by jefhenninger
The gun permit application in New Jersey does not mention dismissed charges. So, a lot of people think that their applications will go through without a problem. Well at least some of them (if not many) are wrong. A guy just called me up yesterday who got dismissed for a dismissed domestic violence charge. He couldn’t believe that he got denied. He was shocked to learn that the police can “look behind” the complaint and dismiss based upon the facts as alleged even though they were not proven.
An expungement would have really helped him out. However, depending on the facts of the case, I could have probably helped him get the permit without even getting an expungement. Now he is trying to decide if he wants to drop a few thousand on an appeal. Lesson here is don’t let the application fool you. You can get denied even if you can legally answer all the questions the right way.
Posted in Answering Comments | Tagged Domestic Violence, Gun Permits, Firearms ID Card, Attorney | Leave a Comment »