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.