“The Right To Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed”

There is a quotation near the bottom of every page on this site: “The overriding philosophy of our Legislature is to limit the use of guns as much as possible.” This quote is from a 1973 New Jersey court case called State v. Valentine. Valentine set the stage for another case that came down a quarter century later. That second case was Adler v. Livak, 308 N.J. Super. 219 (1998).

Diane Adler lived in Franklin Township. Daniel Livak was the police chief there. On July 23, 1996, Ms. Adler submitted an application for a New Jersey FID card. New Jersey Statute 2C:58-3d says persons applying for an FID card are entitled to completion of processing within thirty days. Ms. Adler waited her thirty days. Then she waited five more days. No approval. No denial. She went to court seeking enforcement of the thirty-day requirement. Franklin Township Police finally approved her original application twenty-one days after she sought court relief, and before the court had acted on her application.

Because the case presented an important issue that could (and would) arise over and over, the trial court kept the case open, to issue a ruling. That ruling held that it was proper for the police to await receipt of Adler's FBI crminal history before acting on her application. On appeal, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed. Its reasoning was:

The remedy urged by plaintiff--automatic approval or denial of a permit--would serve only to frustrate the legislative design and the public policy underlying the statute without any compensatory benefit to either the public or the individual applicant.

The Adler court thus sent a strong message to police departments throughout New Jersey. That message was, “Folks, there's no hurry. Take your time. Drink your coffee. Except in the most egregious cases, the courts will allow you guys to put applicants' Second Amendment rights on hold.”

Adler remains good law. “Good law” does not mean that Adler complies with the Second Amendment. And it certainly does not mean that Gun Lawyers in New Jersey™ agree with it. What it does mean is that as of June 26, 2021, no higher court has overruled it. But no higher court has approved its holding, either. To the extent Adler might some day be overruled by the Supreme Court of New Jersey (highly doubtful) or the Supreme Court of the United States (quite possible), hope remains.

With Adler still being good law in New Jersey, police departments throughout the state proceed, or perhaps more accurately, don't proceed, accordingly. But let's be fair: That's many police departments, not all. Some police departments in New Jersey take the Second Amendment seriously.

Adler's takeaway is that, although N.J.S. 2C:58-3d requires processing your FID application within thirty days, New Jersey courts refuse to enforce that requirement. New Jersey police agencies, aware that courts do not enforce the thirty-day requirement, take their sweet time. Your options then become to wait it out, or to say enough is enough and take the police department to court, or to just give up entirely.

Police know that few people are able to find the time or the money to take them to court. Police also know that even when people do take them to court and win, that “winning” accomplishes nothing more than the judge telling them to process the application. The judge may even give the police additional time to do so. The judge will impose no fine on the police. The judge will impose no requirement to reimburse your counsel fees.

The judge will impose no requirement to pay court costs. There will be no official reprimand. For the police, “losing” has no down side at all. Put differently, police have no incentive to put down their damn coffee and do their job. And by the time your court hearing even arrives, police might have completed their processing even without your having contacted the court at all.

Practically speaking, there is not too much that Gun Lawyers in New Jersey™ can do to speed things up. They can call the police individual handing the matter. Their only “weapons” on that call are persuasion and (God help us) charm. Threatening to take them to court would be counterproductive, for reasons indicated above. More proactively, Gun Lawyers in New Jersey™ can file a court petition in an effort to move things forward. Is it worth it? As just indicated, the police chief might have approved (or denied) the FID application anyway even if you never contacted the court in the first place. But then again, they might not have. How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

There is, however, something positive that you can do: Join the Assocation of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs. ANJRPC is a truly worth while organization. It fights hard to vindicate Second Amendment rights. It is very active with issues such as these. In numbers, so they say, there is strength. But more than just joining ANJRPC, become active! Contribute to this organization in money if you can and, to whatever extent possible, in time. We guarantee you will make new friends.

You need ANJRPC. ANJRPC needs you. They would welcome your participation. You can help make a difference.

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