On May 14, a three-judge panel of the New Jersey Appellate Division of Superior Court ruled that police may not add to or otherwise change the concealed carry permit application questions, as handed down by the state.
The case arose after a concealed carry applicant–known only as Z.K.–refused to answer duplicate questions that had been added to his application by East Brunswick Police Department. His application was refused because of his refusal to answer the additional questions.
The Court’s decision says:
The Legislature’s command that applications be in the “form prescribed” by the superintendent and obtainable from the State Police, local law enforcement and licensed retail dealers and that “no conditions or requirements [be] added to the form or content” of that application precludes an interpretation that would allow the hundreds of municipal police departments in this State to develop applications supplementing the form promulgated by the Superintendent of the Division of State Police.
It also states:
Nor can we accept the trial court’s interpretation that only municipal forms seeking information beyond that required by the superintendent’s form or authorized by subsection e are interdicted. To do so would allow municipal police departments to deny permits to purchase a handgun and firearms purchaser identification cards to individuals who have completed the prescribed application form and are under no statutory disability, a result clearly not intended by the Legislature.
The decision locks in state preemption for concealed carry applications by requiring that all New Jersey municipalities and licensing authorities abide by the state’s requirements without additions.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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