An Act concerning retail dealers of firearms and amending N.J.S.2C:58-2.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. N.J.S.2C:58-2 is amended to read as follows:

2C:58-2. a. Licensing of retail dealers and their employees. No retail dealer of firearms [nor] or any employee of a retail dealer shall sell or expose for sale, or possess with the intent of selling, any firearm unless licensed to do so as hereinafter provided.

A retail dealer of firearms shall not be located within 1,000 feet of the real property comprising an elementary or secondary school; a child care center as defined in section 3 of P.L.1983, c.492 (C.30:5B-3); a child care facility licensed pursuant to P.L.1983, c.492 (C.30:5B-1 et seq.) that provides services to children with an intellectual or developmental disability; a preschool or nursery school; a public or independent institution of higher education or a proprietary school; a health care facility licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.); a funeral home; another retail dealer of firearms; a church, synagogue, temple, or other place of public worship, including a building used for Sunday school or religious school; an establishment which sells alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises; an establishment which sells alcoholic beverages for consumption off the licensed premises; a playground as defined in section 1 of P.L.1999, c.50 (C.52:27D-123.9); or a public park as defined in section 1 of P.L.1997, c.327 (C.2C:35-7.1).

The superintendent shall prescribe standards and qualifications for retail dealers of firearms and their employees for the protection of the public safety, health and welfare.

Applications shall be made in the form prescribed by the superintendent, accompanied by a fee of $50 payable to the superintendent, and shall be made to a judge of the Superior Court in the county where the applicant maintains his place of business. The judge shall grant a license to an applicant if he finds that the applicant meets the standards and qualifications established by the superintendent and that the applicant can be permitted to engage in business as a retail dealer of firearms or employee thereof without any danger to the public safety, health and welfare. Each license shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of issuance, and shall authorize the holder to sell firearms at retail in a specified municipality.

In addition, every retail dealer shall pay a fee of $5 for each employee actively engaged in the sale or purchase of firearms. The superintendent shall issue a license for each employee for whom said fee has been paid, which license shall be valid for so long as the employee remains in the employ of said retail dealer.

No license shall be granted to any retail dealer under the age of 21 years or to any employee of a retail dealer under the age of 18 or to any person who could not qualify to obtain a permit to purchase a handgun or a firearms purchaser identification card, or to any corporation, partnership or other business organization in which the actual or equitable controlling interest is held or possessed by such an ineligible person.

All licenses shall be granted subject to the following conditions, for breach of any of which the license shall be subject to revocation on the application of any law enforcement officer and after notice and hearing by the issuing court:

(1) The business shall be carried on only in the building or buildings designated in the license, provided that repairs may be made by the dealer or his employees outside of such premises.

(2) The license or a copy certified by the issuing authority shall be displayed at all times in a conspicuous place on the business premises where it can be easily read.

(3) No firearm or imitation thereof shall be placed in any window or in any other part of the premises where it can be readily seen from the outside.

(4) No rifle or shotgun, except antique rifles or shotguns, shall be delivered to any person unless such person possesses and exhibits a valid firearms purchaser identification card and furnishes the seller, on the form prescribed by the superintendent, a certification signed by him setting forth his name, permanent address, firearms purchaser identification card number and such other information as the superintendent may by rule or regulation require. The certification shall be retained by the dealer and shall be made available for inspection by any law enforcement officer at any reasonable time.

(5) No handgun shall be delivered to any person unless:

(a) Such person possesses and exhibits a valid permit to purchase a firearm and at least seven days have elapsed since the date of application for the permit;

(b) The person is personally known to the seller or presents evidence of his identity;

(d) The handgun is accompanied by a trigger lock or a locked case, gun box, container or other secure facility; provided, however, this provision shall not apply to antique handguns or personalized handguns included in the roster pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2019, c.164 (C.2C:58-2.8). The exemptions afforded under this subparagraph for antique handguns and personalized handguns shall be narrowly construed, limited solely to the requirements set forth herein and shall not be deemed to afford or authorize any other exemption from the regulatory provisions governing firearms set forth in chapter 39 and chapter 58 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes; and

(e) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2019, c.164)

(6) The dealer shall keep a true record of every handgun sold, given or otherwise delivered or disposed of, in accordance with the provisions of subsections b. through e. of this section and the record shall note whether a trigger lock, locked case, gun box, container or other secure facility was delivered along with the handgun.

(7) A dealer shall not knowingly deliver more than one handgun to any person within any 30-day period. This limitation shall not apply to:

(a) a federal, State, or local law enforcement officer or agency purchasing handguns for use by officers in the actual performance of their law enforcement duties;

(b) a collector of handguns as curios or relics as defined in Title 18, United States Code, section 921 (a) (13) who has in his possession a valid Collector of Curios and Relics License issued by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives;

(d) any transaction where the person has purchased a handgun from a licensed retail dealer and has returned that handgun to the dealer in exchange for another handgun within 30 days of the original transaction, provided the retail dealer reports the exchange transaction to the superintendent; or

(e) any transaction where the superintendent issues an exemption from the prohibition in this subsection pursuant to the provisions of section 4 of P.L.2009, c.186 (C.2C:58-3.4).

b. Records. Every person engaged in the retail business of selling, leasing or otherwise transferring a handgun, as a retail dealer or otherwise, shall keep a register in which shall be entered the time of the sale, lease or other transfer, the date thereof, the name, age, date of birth, complexion, occupation, residence and a physical description including distinguishing physical characteristics, if any, of the purchaser, lessee or transferee, the name and permanent home address of the person making the sale, lease or transfer, the place of the transaction, and the make, model, manufacturer's number, caliber and other marks of identification on such handgun and such other information as the superintendent shall deem necessary for the proper enforcement of this chapter. The register shall be retained by the dealer and shall be made available at all reasonable hours for inspection by any law enforcement officer.

c. Forms of register. The superintendent shall prepare the form of the register as described in subsection b. of this section and furnish the same in triplicate to each person licensed to be engaged in the business of selling, leasing or otherwise transferring firearms.

d. Signatures in register. The purchaser, lessee or transferee of any handgun shall sign, and the dealer shall require him to sign his name to the register, in triplicate, and the person making the sale, lease or transfer shall affix his name, in triplicate, as a witness to the signature. The signatures shall constitute a representation of the accuracy of the information contained in the register.

e. Copies of register entries; delivery to chief of police or county clerk. Within five days of the date of the sale, assignment or transfer, the dealer shall deliver or mail by certified mail, return receipt requested, legible copies of the register forms to the office of the chief of police of the municipality in which the purchaser resides, or to the office of the captain of the precinct of the municipality in which the purchaser resides, and to the superintendent. If hand delivered a receipt shall be given to the dealer therefor.

Where a sale, assignment or transfer is made to a purchaser who resides in a municipality having no chief of police, the dealer shall, within five days of the transaction, mail a duplicate copy of the register sheet to the clerk of the county within which the purchaser resides.

(cf: P.L.2019, c.164, s.7)

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill prohibits retail dealers of firearms from being located near certain businesses and facilities.

Under the provisions of this bill, a retail dealer of firearms is prohibited from being located within 1,000 feet of the real property comprising an elementary or secondary school; a child care center; a child care facility that provides services to children with an intellectual or developmental disability; a preschool or nursery school; a public or independent institution of higher education or a proprietary school; a licensed health care facility; a funeral home; another retail dealer of firearms; a church, synagogue, temple, or other place of public worship, including a building used for Sunday school or religious school; an establishment which sells alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises; an establishment which sells alcoholic beverages for consumption off the licensed premises; a playground; or a public park.