Category Archives: Our Services
Can the police contact your employer about your gun permit?
New Jersey gun permits and employers
When you apply for a gun permit in New Jersey, you give up a lot of rights. You consent to the police reviewing records and contacting any number of people about your application. While they cannot ask you to fill out any additional forms, they are generally free to conduct an investigation into your background in any way they see fit. The STS-33 specifically requests that you provide your employer’s information. The police are then free to contact your employer.
Most employers are probably smart enough to keep quiet or else risk a lawsuit. However, some employers can cause problems for you if they are anti-gun. Although the case was reversed and remanded, In Re Dubov, 981 A.2d 87 (App. Div. 2009) demonstrates how your employer can throw a wrench into your gun permit application:
this Court with consent of all parties as stated on the record on February 28, 2008 having contacted [appellant’s] employers listed in [appellant’s] counsel’s March 5, 2008 letter to the Court, and having spoken to said employers via telephone, and the Court having been advised of information (specifically questionable and threatening behavior by [appellant]) that leads the Court to find that the issuance of a Firearms Purchaser Identification Card to [appellant] would not be in the interest of the public’s health, safety, and welfare, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3c(5),
Keep in mind that your employer’s anti-gun stance will not be enough to form a basis of denial. However, if they provide negative information about you, there is a good chance you will be denied. The best way to attack this is to be proactive instead of reactive. If you think your employer is going to cause a problem for you, your best course of action may be to lawyer up ahead of time to try to prevent a denial.
Call us at 1-855-9-JEFLAW to discuss anytime.
Vacating Final Restraining Orders in New Jersey
If you have a final restraining order in New Jersey, you will not be issued a gun permit. However, you can file a motion to vacate your final restraining order. It is a very complex process that you should seek legal assistance for. Unlike other states where restraining orders expire after a few years, restraining orders in New Jersey are meant to be permanent; hence the use of the word “final”. Most people that come to us to vacate an FRO either didn’t have a lawyer or they didn’t have a very good one. Thus, to vacate the FRO, we need to hit the case hard. We have been very successful in vacating FRO’s so if you need our help, call us anytime. After the FRO is vacated, we can then get to work on your gun permit application.
Criminal Firearms Charges
Our firm has handled many firearms criminal cases. In fact, our aggressive criminal defense practice is what got us into firearms law to begin with. If you are charged with any weapons charges in New Jersey, we can help you in any court. We can help you with any firearms offense including but not limited to the following:
- Unlawful Possession of a Weapon
- Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose
- Certain Persons / Felon in Possession
- Possession of Dum Dum Bullets / Possession of Hollow Point Bullets
- Possession of a Stun Gun
- Possession of a BB Gun
- Possession of a Firearm Without a Carry Permit
- Possession of an Assault Rifle
- Possession of a Machine Gun
- Possession of Defaced Firearms
- Unlawful Sale of Firearms
- Straw Purchaser
- Falsification of Gun Permit Application
- Federal Firearms Charges
We have many big wins with regard to our defense of criminal weapons charges. Consider just these few examples:
J.C. – Passaic County
Client was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon for not having a carry permit. The State was looking for the client to do 5 years in prison. He was also charged with theft and burglary because he was alleged to have broke into his roommates bedroom to steal his weapons. We filed a motion to dismiss the indictment and even though the State fought hard, it was granted and all charges were dismissed.
J.S. – Mercer County
Client was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon for not having a carry permit. We fought the case hard and over time, the plea offer became less and less and less. In the end, we were able to get the State to completely dismiss the charges against the client.
R.M. – Middlesex County
Client was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon for not having a carry permit. His first lawyer told him that there was no way he could win his case. He fired that lawyer and hired us. We took the case to trial. 2 out of the 3 charges were dismissed but the jury hung one the last charge most likely due to confusing jury instructions. Instead of going back to trial, the client opted to take probation. Besides avoiding 5 years in prison, he was also able to keep his job.
C.S. – Ocean County
Client was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon for not having a carry permit. Once again, the State was looking for him to do prison time. After much litigation, we were able to get the felony charges dismissed. He paid a small fine and did not even have to serve probation.
D.C. – Union County
Client was charged with falsification for failing to disclose an arrest on his gun permit application. We were able to get the felony charges against him dismissed through a diversion program.
Firearms Forfeiture
In New Jersey, your firearms can be forfeited if you become subject to any of the disabilities set forth in the statute. Most often, this occurs when a Temporary Restraining Order is filed against you. Even if the TRO is dismissed, I am not aware of one prosecutor’s office in New Jersey that will just hand them back to you. In fact, I once had a case where my client filed a TRO against his wife so she filed once against him a week later. The police then took his weapons. Of course, we won his TRO and the one his wife filed was dismissed. Thus, even though he was clearly found to be the victim, we still had to fight like hell to get his guns back which we did after a lengthy trial.
If you have had your firearms forfeited and you have a forfeiture trial in any court in New Jersey, we will fight for you to get your firearms back. Call our team of NJ firearm lawyers at 1-855-9JEFLAW (1-855-953-3529) any time to discuss.
Mental Health Expungement
A mental health record expungement is a rare application that most lawyers in New Jersey probably don’t know even exist. In fact, I know several judges that have never seen them before until we filed them. The mental health record expungement in New Jersey is necessary if you were ever committed in a mental health institution. It permits you to get around the mental health record disability and should help you get around any NICS issues. Unlike a NJ criminal record expungement in where the records are basically destroyed (in actuality, they are locked away where almost no one can get them) the mental health records still exist after the expungement goes through. However, you can legally claim that you were not confined in a mental health institution and anyone else (such as the police) must treat it as if it never happened. Much like a criminal record expungement, the process is difficult and complex and it is strongly advised that you seek legal assistance.
We have been successful with every single mental health record expungement we have ever handled. After we finish it, we will help you with your gun permit application for free (you just have to pay the fees). If you need a mental health records expungement in New Jersey, call us anytime to discuss.
Criminal Record Expungements
If you were ever charged with any criminal offense in New Jersey, you may have your gun permit denied even if the charge was dismissed, you won at trial, got PTI, it wasn’t a felony, it was a long time ago or you were a juvenile. The law clearly states that the police are permitted to used dismissed offenses against you. In fact, you don’t even have to be arrested. I have seen someone get denied for having an angry ex-girlfriend make a police report. He was never even charged; in fact he didn’t even know about it. Thus, if there is anything in your background, it should be expunged.
Expungements are a time consuming, annoying process. It takes at least two months to complete the process and even though we do it all the time, it is still a difficult process because of the numerous procedural requirements. If we are handling your New Jersey expungement as part of the gun permit process, we will handle your gun permit application for free. You’ll just have to pay the filing fees.
We can only help you with your New Jersey expungement. If you have a criminal record in another state, you will need to ask an attorney in that state if there is any way to expunge your record. You will also need to know if the offense was punishable by more than 6 months in jail. It doesn’t matter what your actual sentence was, we just need to know the statutory maximum to see if we can help you and/or if you still apply without the expungement if that state doesn’t offer one.
NICS Denials
As if the gun permit process in New Jersey wasn’t difficult enough, some people have trouble with NICS when they go to buy their firearm. This seems to not make any sense. Why would New Jersey approve you and then NICS deny you? It might sound odd, but it does happen from time to time. Chances are, there is something in your background that NICS is having an issue with that New Jersey either didn’t pick up or was not concerned about. In almost every case, we can help you.
In order to help you, we need to know why you were denied. If you don’t know, you can request the reason. Per the FBI, you may request the reason for your denial or delay from the FBI in writing by mail, facsimile, or on-line. Due to the Privacy Act of 1974, the reason for the denial or delay cannot be disseminated to you via the telephone. The contact info is as follows:
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Criminal Justice Information Services Division
NICS Section
Appeal Services Team, Module A-1
Post Office Box 4278
Clarksburg, WV 26302-4278
Facsimile: (304) 625-0535
On-line: www.fbi.gov/nics-appeals
Gun Permit Appeals
If your gun permit has been denied, you have to file an appeal. Most of the time, when we are talking about an appeal, we mean an appeal to a higher court such as the Appellate Division. Whatever court it is generally looks at “the record” (i.e. the evidence submitted) to see if the court made a mistake (reversible error) unless it is a de novo appeal which is where the lower court’s determination is not given any weight. Regardless, the appeal generally just involves legal briefs and oral argument.
With a gun permit appeal in New Jersey, it is actually a trial before a New Jersey Superior Court Judge. A lawyer is not required but these cases can be tough even with a lawyer so to try to do it yourself may be impossible. After all, would you perform surgery on yourself? I doubt you would. Thus, doing an appeal without a lawyer may not be a great choice. You don’t know the law, the rules of evidence, the rules of court, etc. If you lose your gun permit appeal, you may be barred from ever getting a gun permit unless you file yet another appeal, this time with the Appellate Division. Such an appeal is even more expensive and complex so it makes sense to do things the right way the first time.
We can help almost anyone that has been denied except for a few specific circumstances. Call us anytime to see if we can help you. We have a long track record of winning a large number of gun permit appeals. In fact, we have been so successful that at least a third of our cases wind up not even going to court. We can resolve them out of court with the prosecutor without the need for a court appearance.
Gun Permits
Several years ago, we found that we were handling an increasing amount of gun permit appeals. At a few of these appeals, the police informed us that if they knew that we were involved in the case, they would have just given the client the permit. After hearing that a few times, we decided to help clients with their gun permit applications. We were the first law firm in New Jersey to help clients on a wide scale basis. Since then, a few of our competitors have ripped us off in order to make a quick buck. Make no mistake about it, when it comes to gun permit application assistance, we are the innovators!
We charge a flat fee from anywhere to $500 to $1000 for assistance with gun permit applications with the fee depending on a variety of factors such as how complex the issues are. If you are going to check “no” on all questions on the application because you have a clean background, you probably don’t need our help. Be sure to click on the Will You Get Denied? link to make sure your application will be clean. However, if you have applied and you want to make sure you will get your permit in time or you have been waiting too long, we can help. We have seen clients wait years only to have their permit approved within days of hiring us.
If you are going to answer yes to any question on the application, you may be denied. Its kind of a trick application in a sense. What’s worse is that if you fill out the application incorrectly, you may even be arrested for Third Degree Falsification. Luckily, not everyone that is denied for falsification is arrested but we have seen an increase in those that have been arrested. If you are denied, the appeal could cost thousands so thus, having us help you could save you a lot of time, aggravation and money.
In the end, we don’t really make any money from these gun permit applications. Retail stores refer to such products/services as “loss leaders”. Clearly, we are huge supporters of the gun rights community and we don’t want to see anyone have to go through the appeal process. In addition, we hope that by helping you through the gun permit application process, you will enjoy working with our firm and you will send your friends and family to our firm. We can then represent them on more profitable matters.
We have helped hundreds and hundreds of people with their gun permits for many years. How can we help you? Call us 24/7 at 1-855-9JEFLAW (1-855-953-3529).
NJ Gun Permit Attorney 