A New Jersey Permit to Carry a Handgun (PTC) is valid for two years. Renewal is not a light-touch update. By statute it follows the same process and...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
A New Jersey Permit to Carry a Handgun (PTC) is valid for two years. Renewal is not a light-touch update. By statute it follows the same process and the same conditions as an original application. You re-apply through the State Police online portal, submit a current training and qualification record, line up four qualifying endorsers again, pay the same fee, and pass a fresh background review. Start early, because if your permit expires before the renewal is approved you may not lawfully carry.
This page describes what the renewal statute requires. New Jersey rewrote its carry framework after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Bruen decision, and federal courts have since narrowed a few parts of that 2022 law. See the litigation note below before relying on any provision about where you may carry.
Note on who issues the permit. Under the 2022 law (P.L. 2022, c. 131, enacted December 22, 2022), the chief police officer of your municipality, or the State Police Superintendent for nonresidents and certain other applicants, issues the permit directly. The Superior Court no longer issues carry permits. The court's role is limited to hearing appeals from denials and applications to revoke. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(c), (d), (e), (f).
The State Police online system accepts renewal applications up to four months before the permit's expiration date. Build in time for the training qualification, the references, and the background review.
If your permit lapses before the renewal is approved, you cannot carry in the gap. Plan around that.
New Jersey processes permit to carry applications, including renewals, through the State Police online portal at njportal.com. The legacy paper application forms are no longer the path for most applicants. The statute leaves the forms and manner to the Superintendent, and the Superintendent has moved the process online. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(b).
Confirm your firearms identifiers. You must already have been fingerprinted for firearms purposes in New Jersey and have a State Bureau of Identification (SBI) number. A renewal is validated against your SBI number, last name, and date of birth.
Complete a current training and qualification record. New Jersey requires qualification under the State Police Civilian Carry Assessment and Range Evaluation (CCARE) protocol, administered by a certified instructor. Your training record must be current, completed within the previous two years. Under the renewal exemption in N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(d)(3), a renewal applicant does not have to repeat the classroom instruction and target training portions if that instruction and training were completed when the applicant obtained a permit issued within the previous two years. In practice, because permits run two years, renewal applicants present a qualification record dated within the prior two years. See the TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS section for the CCARE course of fire and the certifications.
Gather your renewal documents. You upload, at minimum:
Provide four qualifying endorsers. The application must be endorsed by at least four reputable persons who are not related to you by blood or by law, who have known you for at least three years, and who certify that you have not engaged in acts or statements suggesting you are likely to engage in conduct, other than lawful self-defense, that would pose a danger to yourself or others. This requirement applies to renewals as well as to original applications. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(b).
Pay the $200 application fee. The fee is $200 total: $150 to the municipality (paid to your local police department) and $50 forwarded to the Superintendent, deposited into the Victims of Crime Compensation Office account. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(c). Application fees are non-refundable.
Background re-investigation. The chief police officer or the Superintendent re-runs the record checks, may interview you and your endorsers, and confirms that you are not subject to any of the disabilities in N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(c) and remain familiar with the safe handling and use of handguns. Because your fingerprints and SBI record are already on file, the statute allows the agency to run a comparable criminal record check using your existing identifiers rather than requiring a new fingerprint capture for the renewal. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(c).
The 90-day decision clock. Once the application is deemed complete, if it is not approved or denied within 90 days it is deemed approved. The chief police officer or Superintendent may, for good cause and on written notice with a detailed explanation, extend the period by up to 30 additional days, and you may agree in writing to a further extension beyond the 120-day frame. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(c).
Issuance. If approved, the permit is issued electronically, through email or the web portal, in the form prescribed by the Superintendent. The renewed permit carries a new two-year expiration date. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(d).
The 2022 law conditions issuance on the applicant carrying liability insurance for losses resulting from carrying a handgun in public. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(c) and (d)(4), referencing section 4 of P.L. 2022, c. 131 (codified at N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4.3). This condition applies to renewals. The insurance mandate is one of the 2022 provisions that has been challenged in court, so confirm its current enforceability and any active requirement with your issuing agency before you renew.
A renewal is denied if you have become subject to any of the disabilities in N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(c) since your last permit, or if the background review shows you are likely to engage in conduct that would harm yourself or others. Common disqualifiers include a disqualifying criminal conviction, an active domestic violence restraining order, an involuntary commitment, or certain mental health and substance issues. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(c), (d).
A permit also becomes void automatically the moment the holder becomes subject to a disability in N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(c), and the holder must surrender it. Separately, the Superior Court may revoke a permit after a hearing if it finds the holder no longer qualified. A county prosecutor, a chief police officer, the Superintendent, or any citizen may apply for revocation. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(f).
A denial must be in writing with the reasons stated. You may request a hearing in the Superior Court of the county where you reside, or, for a nonresident, any county where you intend to carry, by filing a written request within 30 days of the denial. The hearing is held within 60 days of the request, with no filing fee. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(e).
These steps are administrative. New Jersey statute does not provide a specific notice deadline for an address or name change in N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4, so follow your issuing agency's instructions.
If your permit expires before the renewal is approved, you have no carry authority during the gap. Carrying a handgun in public without a valid permit is unlawful possession of a handgun, a crime of the second degree under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b)(1). A second-degree weapons offense carries a Graves Act mandatory minimum term of imprisonment and parole ineligibility. This is one of the most serious mistakes a permit holder can make, so do not let the permit lapse while you are still carrying.
If the gap is long, or if your renewal was denied, you generally re-apply as a new applicant, which restarts the full process and the full fee.
The application runs through New Jersey's online portal, but it is tied to a New Jersey issuing authority, your New Jersey firearms identifiers, and a qualification under New Jersey's CCARE protocol. There is no out-of-state qualification that substitutes for it, and holding another state's carry permit does not satisfy New Jersey's requirements. Nonresidents apply to the State Police rather than a municipal department. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(c).
The 2022 law (P.L. 2022, c. 131) did more than change how permits are issued. It created an extensive list of "sensitive places" where a permit holder may not carry, at N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4.6, plus a default rule barring carry on private property unless the owner consents and a restriction on carry inside a vehicle. Those provisions were challenged in Koons v. Platkin and Siegel v. Platkin, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decided the appeal on September 10, 2025 (No. 23-1900).
What the Third Circuit did. The court upheld most of the sensitive-place categories as likely constitutional and currently enforceable. A permit holder may not carry in those places, and a violation is a third-degree crime. These enforceable categories include parks, beaches, and recreation areas; entertainment, sports, and arena venues; health care and medical facilities; public libraries and museums; bars and restaurants that serve alcohol; locations within 100 feet of a public gathering, demonstration, or event that requires a government permit; and the other civic, educational, and recreational places listed in the statute. Treat these as in effect.
What the court struck down. The Third Circuit found three things likely unconstitutional and not currently enforceable: the private-property default in N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4.6(a)(24), which had made all private property open to the public presumptively off-limits unless the owner affirmatively consented; the restriction on carrying in a private vehicle; and the ban on carry at youth sports events. As a result, a permit holder may carry in their own private vehicle, and may carry on private property open to the public unless the owner affirmatively prohibits it. A property owner keeps the ordinary right to bar firearms on the owner's premises.
What this means for renewal. The mechanics on this page, the two-year term, the fee, the training and qualification, the endorsers, and the background review, remain in effect. The September 2025 Third Circuit ruling is a preliminary-injunction posture and the State may seek further review, so this is the operative current framing rather than a final word. Confirm the current status with the New Jersey Attorney General's guidance or qualified counsel before you carry. See the PROHIBITED_PLACES section for detail.
Renew on the same two-year cycle as your original permit. Apply through the State Police online portal up to four months before expiration, present a current CCARE qualification and Form SP 182, line up four qualifying endorsers, and pay the $200 fee. The chief police officer or Superintendent issues the permit, not the Superior Court, and has up to 90 days to decide. Do not let the permit lapse while you carry: carrying on an expired permit is a second-degree crime under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b)(1). Most of New Jersey's sensitive-place rules are in effect after the Third Circuit's September 2025 ruling, while the private-property default, the in-vehicle restriction, and the youth-sports-event ban were struck down, so verify the current status before you rely on any carry-location provision.
This page covers one part of our New Jersey concealed carry guide.
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