New Jersey recognizes no other state's carry permit. The New Jersey State Police answers the question in one line on its Concealed Carry Facts and FAQ...
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New Jersey recognizes no other state's carry permit. The New Jersey State Police answers the question in one line on its Concealed Carry Facts and FAQ page: "No. New Jersey does not have reciprocity with any other state. You must obtain a New Jersey Concealed Carry Permit if you wish to carry a handgun in New Jersey."
The statute reads the same way. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(a) provides that "Any person who holds a valid permit to carry a handgun issued pursuant to this section shall be authorized to carry a handgun in a holster concealed on their person in all parts of this State, except as prohibited by subsection e. of N.J.S.2C:39-5 and section 7 of P.L.2022, c.131 (C.2C:58-4.6)." The authorization attaches to a permit issued under that section, not to a license issued anywhere else.
The core offense is N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b)(1): "Any person who knowingly has in his possession any handgun, including any antique handgun, without first having obtained a permit to carry the same as provided in N.J.S.2C:58-4, is guilty of a crime of the second degree." A permit from another state does not satisfy that permit element.
Grading and sentence, each from the operative text:
A second offense can attach to the same conduct. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4.5 opens "Except as permitted pursuant to N.J.S.2C:39-6, in addition to any criminal penalties under subsection b. of N.J.S.2C:39-5" and other cited law, then makes it "a crime of the fourth degree for any person in a public place" to do either of two things. Subsection a. reaches a person who carries "a handgun concealed on or about their person, except as permitted in accordance with N.J.S.2C:39-6, without possessing on their person a valid and lawfully issued permit to carry under N.J.S.2C:58-4 and proof of the liability insurance required pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2022, c.131 (C.2C:58-4.3)". Subsection b. reaches a person who carries "a handgun openly, whether or not in possession of a valid and lawfully issued permit to carry under N.J.S.2C:58-4 and proof of the liability insurance required pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2022, c.131 (C.2C:58-4.3)." When NJSP quotes those two subsections it stops before the insurance clause and says so: "A sentence mentioning liability insurance in statute at the end of section a and b of the above was left out intentionally due to Judge Renee Marie Bumb ruling against liability insurance on 5/16/2023. Liability insurance is no longer required." A fourth-degree term "shall not exceed 18 months" under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(a)(4).
Long guns are graded separately. Under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(c)(1), knowing possession of a rifle or shotgun "without having first obtained a firearms purchaser identification card in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.2C:58-3" is a crime of the third degree, and under 2C:39-5(c)(2) knowing possession of a loaded rifle or shotgun, "[u]nless otherwise permitted by law," is a crime of the third degree. A third-degree term runs "between three years and five years" under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(a)(3).
New Jersey does not recognize your permit, but it will take your application. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(c) requires each application to be "accompanied by a $200 application fee" and submitted in the first instance to the chief police officer of the municipality where the applicant resides, "or to the superintendent if: (1) the applicant is an employee of an armored car company; (2) there is no chief police officer in the municipality where the applicant resides; (3) the applicant does not reside in this State; or (4) the applicant is a mayor or other elected member of the municipal governing body." Clause (3) is the nonresident route: an applicant who does not live in New Jersey applies to the Superintendent of State Police.
The State Police instructions for out-of-state residents describe the mechanics. The application is filed online. Applicants who are not New Jersey residents or dual residents answer "no" to the residency question, cannot enter a local ORI number, and have the application assigned automatically to a State Police station. NJSP states the total fee is $205 for an applicant who must be fingerprinted and $226 for one already fingerprinted, with fingerprint vendor costs paid separately, and that an applicant with no prior New Jersey prints has ninety days to be fingerprinted or the application is cancelled without a refund.
Holding a permit elsewhere buys no credit. NJSP states that its training requirements "are unique to New Jersey," and that if you hold a concealed carry permit in another state or have received training to meet another state's standards, you still must meet New Jersey's requirements, which run through the Civilian Carry Assessment and Range Evaluation protocol issued on September 15, 2023. The statutory conditions apply equally: endorsement by "not less than four reputable persons who are not related by blood or by law to the applicant and have known the applicant for at least three years preceding the date of application" under N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(b), and a determination under 2C:58-4(c) that the applicant is not subject to the disabilities in subsection c. of N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3. Giving false information in a permit-to-carry application is a crime of the third degree under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-10(c).
N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4.6 took effect on December 22, 2022, and NJSP records several ongoing court cases involving it, with orders dated from May 16, 2023 forward. NJSP states that proof of liability insurance is not currently required and that the statutory text has not been updated because the appeals are not final. Confirm the current fee and eligibility requirements on the NJSP concealed carry page before you file.
Once the permit issues, N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4.4(b) attaches a duty at a traffic stop. A permit holder "stopped or detained by a law enforcement officer while carrying a handgun in public or traveling with a handgun in a motor vehicle" must "immediately disclose to the law enforcement officer that they are carrying a handgun or that a handgun is stored in the vehicle" and "display the permit to carry a handgun issued pursuant to N.J.S.2C:58-4." A violation of the disclosure paragraph "shall be a crime of the fourth degree." The duty to inform section covers 2C:58-4.4 in full.
The federal transport provision is 18 U.S.C. 926A, part of chapter 44 of title 18. It is not a carry authority. It entitles a person to transport a firearm only when each of its stated conditions holds, and subject to a proviso for one class of vehicle:
Both the unloaded condition and the accessibility condition must be satisfied, and the accessibility condition reaches the ammunition as well as the firearm. Whether the origin and the destination each qualify is a question about those two jurisdictions, not about New Jersey.
New Jersey has its own transport-manner rule. N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6(g) provides that "Any weapon being transported under paragraph (2) of subsection b., subsection e., or paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection f. of this section shall be carried unloaded and contained in a closed and fastened case, gunbox, securely tied package, or locked in the trunk of the automobile in which it is being transported, and in the course of travel shall include only deviations as are reasonably necessary under the circumstances." Note which exemptions subsection g. is keyed to: b(2), e, f(1) and f(3). Paragraph f(1) is the rifle or pistol club target-practice exemption, set out below. It is not keyed to f(2).
Ammunition is governed separately from the firearm. Under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-3(f)(1), a person other than a law enforcement officer or a person "engaged in activities pursuant to subsection f. of N.J.S.2C:39-6" who knowingly possesses "any hollow nose or dum-dum bullet" is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. Subsection (g)(2)(a) preserves keeping such ammunition "at his dwelling, premises or other land owned or possessed by him" and carrying it "from the place of purchase to said dwelling or land." Hollow points are not the whole of it. The same statute reaches magazines at N.J.S.A. 2C:39-3(j): "Any person who knowingly has in his possession a large capacity ammunition magazine is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree unless the person has registered" one of the two things the subsection then lists. The capacity figure and that registration exception are covered in the restrictions section.
The federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act operates independently of New Jersey licensing. Under 18 U.S.C. 926B(a), "an individual who is a qualified law enforcement officer and who is carrying the identification required by subsection (d) may carry a concealed firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, subject to subsection (b)." Section 926C(a) says the same for a qualified retired law enforcement officer. Both statutes limit themselves in identical terms: subsection (b) of each provides that the section shall not be construed to supersede or limit state laws that "permit private persons or entities to prohibit or restrict the possession of concealed firearms on their property" or that "prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on any State or local government property, installation, building, base, or park."
NJSP states that it recognizes that LEOSA gives qualified law enforcement officers and qualified retired law enforcement officers the ability to carry a concealed firearm in New Jersey with proper credentialing, proof of firearm qualification, and compliance with the other statutory mandates in 926B and 926C. New Jersey separately runs its own Retired Police Officer permit under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6(l), which requires written application to the Superintendent every two years, a verification of service from the officer's last agency, semi-annual qualification, and an identification card carried at all times while carrying. NJSP states a New Jersey address is required for it and that it adds to LEOSA rather than replacing it.
A New Jersey permit authorizes carry "in all parts of this State" under N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(a). Its text says nothing about any other jurisdiction, and New Jersey law is not the law that decides the question once you cross the state line.
Whether a New Jersey permit is honored anywhere else is the destination state's decision, made under that state's own statutes and administrative determinations. Even on New Jersey's own law, NJSP puts the tracking burden on the permit holder: "It is your responsibility to understand the current list of sensitive places in effect at the time you apply. Additionally, once you have a New Jersey concealed carry permit it is your responsibility to stay updated as to the status of the court's decision on the pending appeal and any subsequent changes to the law. The New Jersey State Police is not obligated to notify you of any changes to the law." For that reason this page names no state as recognizing or refusing a New Jersey permit. Do not rely on a third-party reciprocity map, an app, or a printed list, however recent.
Before each trip, check the destination state's own attorney general or state police page, and ask two questions rather than one: whether that state recognizes a New Jersey permit at all, and what conditions attach if it does. Where carry is barred, what a driver must tell an officer at a stop, and what ammunition or magazines may be possessed are set by the destination state, and nothing in a New Jersey permit speaks to them. If your route crosses several states, each is a separate question.
This page covers one part of our New Jersey concealed carry guide.
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