New Jersey Permit to Purchase a Handgun
New Jersey requires a separate state permit for every handgun you buy. This guide explains the Permit to Purchase a Handgun as of September 2026, based on the New Jersey State Police FARS instructions and N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3. It is general information, not legal advice.
Who needs a handgun purchase permit
Anyone in New Jersey who buys or receives a handgun needs a Permit to Purchase a Handgun for that specific gun. This covers dealer sales and private transfers, which must go through a licensed dealer. You must be 21 or older. You also need a valid Firearms Purchaser Identification Card, or you can apply for the FPIC and the permit together. See our FPIC guide for the card itself.
How to apply
File online through the NJSP Firearms Application and Registration System, FARS. Your application goes to the police department that covers your home, either the municipal police or the State Police. If you already have an FPIC and a State Bureau of Identification number from earlier fingerprinting, you enter that number and do not need new prints. If this is your first application, choose both the initial FPIC and a handgun permit, and you will be fingerprinted by IdentoGO.
You will list references, answer the eligibility questions, sign the mental health records consent and review the State Police Firearms Safety and Awareness presentation inside the application, a step added under P.L.2022, c.131.
Fees
- Permit to Purchase a Handgun: $25 per permit.
- Background check: $21 online for applicants already fingerprinted, made up of an $18 statutory fee and a $3 service fee. First-time applicants pay the fingerprint fee to IdentoGO instead.
- If you apply for an FPIC at the same time, add the $50 card fee.
How long a permit lasts
Handgun purchase permits are electronic. Once approved, a permit is valid for 90 days and renews automatically for another 90 days. The State Police email you when it renews. After 180 days from approval the permit expires with no further extension, and you must apply again. Plan your purchase so the gun reaches your dealer and you can pick it up inside that window.
One handgun every 30 days
New Jersey allows the purchase of one handgun in any 30-day period. If you need to buy more than one handgun in 30 days, for example for competition or a collection, you can request a Multiple Handgun Purchase Exemption in the same FARS application. The police department decides whether to grant it. Without an exemption, a dealer cannot release a second handgun until 30 days have passed.
How long approval takes
State law directs the issuing authority to act on resident applications within 30 days, but real times vary by town. Busy departments and applications with record questions, bad fingerprints or slow references often take longer. If a permit is denied, you receive the reason and can request a hearing in Superior Court.
Which handguns you can buy
A handgun permit does not make every handgun legal in New Jersey. Watch two limits.
- Magazines over 10 rounds. New Jersey has limited magazines to 10 rounds since 2018. A pistol that ships from the factory with 15 or 17 round magazines must be sold with 10-round magazines instead. Your dealer will not transfer the larger magazines.
- Assault firearm features. N.J.S.A. 2C:39-1(w) covers some semi-automatic pistols, including listed models and pistols that take a detachable magazine and have two or more listed features, such as a magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip, a threaded barrel, a barrel shroud, or an unloaded weight of 50 ounces or more. Many AR and AK pattern pistols fall into this group.
A full Third Circuit panel ruled in July 2026 that the assault firearm and magazine laws are unconstitutional, but that ruling is stayed while New Jersey asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review it. Both laws are in effect. Treat them as binding until your dealer or the State Police say otherwise.
Picking up your handgun
Bring your permit details, FPIC and ID to the dealer. The dealer completes federal Form 4473 and the state paperwork, runs a check through the State Police and records the sale against your permit. New Jersey residents who buy a handgun take delivery only through a New Jersey dealer, even if the gun came from out of state.
Ammunition
To buy handgun ammunition at a New Jersey dealer you must show an FPIC, a handgun purchase permit or a carry permit. Hollow point ammunition is legal to keep at home, on land you own, at a range, while hunting and while traveling directly between those places, but the State Police say it is not legal for concealed carry.
Carrying the handgun
A purchase permit lets you buy a handgun and keep it at home or at your business. It does not let you carry it in public. For that you need a Permit to Carry a Handgun, which requires CCARE range qualification and four references and costs $226. The New Jersey gun laws overview explains the carry permit and the sensitive places rules. The home defense guide covers storage and the choice of a first handgun.
Ordering a handgun online
Our catalog lists the full national distributor range, including many handguns and magazines that are not legal for New Jersey residents. Before ordering, call your New Jersey dealer, give them the exact model and part number, and confirm it is on their list of New Jersey compliant handguns with 10-round magazines. Have your permit approved, or know it is close, before the gun ships, since the 180-day clock does not stop. Local dealer notes are on our New Jersey city pages.
General information, not legal advice. Current as of September 2026. Laws change; check the official source before you act.
