Handing Over A Firearm
N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3 — a permit to purchase for a handgun, a purchaser card for a rifle or shotgun, and a licensed retail dealer in between
A handgun. A person may not sell, give, transfer, assign or otherwise dispose of a handgun, nor receive, purchase or otherwise acquire one, unless the person receiving it is a licensed dealer or has first secured a permit to purchase a handgun. Only one handgun is purchased or delivered on each permit, and no more than one handgun is purchased within any 30-day period, with listed exceptions.
A rifle or shotgun. The same goes for an antique cannon, or a rifle or shotgun other than an antique, unless the person receiving it is a licensed dealer or holds a valid firearms purchaser identification card, first exhibits the card to the person handing it over, and signs a written certification on the superintendent's form that the person meets the section's requirements.
Through a licensed retail dealer. A person who is not a licensed retail dealer and transfers or acquires a handgun, an antique cannon, or a rifle or shotgun conducts the transaction through a licensed retail dealer. The dealer completes a National Instant Criminal Background Check of the person acquiring it, reports to the Superintendent of State Police, and keeps a record for inspection by law enforcement. The dealer may charge a fee, which for a rifle or shotgun may not exceed $70.
- Between members of an immediate family: a spouse, domestic partner, partner in a civil union, parent, stepparent, grandparent, sibling, stepsibling, child, stepchild or grandchild, by blood or by law.
- Between law enforcement officers.
- Between collectors of firearms as curios or relics who each hold a valid federal collector's license.
- A temporary transfer under the sections the statute names.
Those transactions need not go through a dealer. A permit to purchase or a purchaser card is still not issued to, among others, a person convicted of any crime or of a disorderly persons offense involving domestic violence, a person under 18 for the card or under 21 for the permit, or a person subject to a domestic violence restraining order or an extreme risk protective order prohibiting firearms.
Applying for a permit or card, the appeal from a denial, and federal rules on transfers are not on this page. Whether a particular sale, loan or gift is lawful is a question for a licensed New Jersey attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3 — Permit to purchase a handgun
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed New Jersey attorney.