JACKSON – Alexander Roubian, a representative of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society, has addressed the Jackson Township Council about complaints regarding inconsistencies in the township’s firearms application process.
The New Jersey Second Amendment Society (NJ2AS) describes itself as a New Jersey-based nonprofit civil rights organization. Its focus and mission is to end what it describes on its website as “the hostile anti-Second Amendment and self-defense sentiment within the New Jersey Legislature and community.”
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
During the public comment portion of the council’s May 28 meeting, Roubian said he wanted to address a complaint the society filed against Jackson Police Chief Matthew Kunz. The complaint was filed on May 21 with the New Jersey Attorney General and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
“There were some inconsistencies in the (township’s) firearms application process that made multiple individuals, members of our organization, residents of Jackson, file complaints with us and constantly ask us if the process being conducted in town was lawful,” Roubian said.
He said Jackson police were requiring individuals to be fingerprinted every two years if they wanted to obtain a firearms permit.
Roubian said the Jackson Police Department provided each applicant who was seeking to obtain a firearms permit with a form which indicated each applicant would have to be fingerprinted every two years, that if an applicant’s fingerprints were more than 2 years old for a firearms application card, he/she would have to be re-fingerprinted, and if the individual was purchasing or applying for a handgun permit and their fingerprints were more than 2 years old, that individual would have to be re-fingerprinted.
“I was told by (Township Council President Robert Nixon) the requirement is no longer being enforced. We made an Open Public Records Act request about a month ago and we received the paperwork that (fingerprints are) being required, but Mr. Nixon did advise us that (the requirement) is not being enforced and not being required,” Roubian said.
He said that explanation does not ignore the fact that regular fingerprinting was being required.
“And it does not ignore the other complaints we received from multiple members that the process (to obtain a firearms permit) is taking three to six months,” Roubian said. “We have members who are police officers, who are police chiefs, and they get their permit done in seven to 12 days. So the fact it is taking three to six-plus months for the Jackson Police Department to process an application is concerning,” Roubian said.
Nixon said he asked Kunz that day about the fingerprinting requirement.
“I would certainly appreciate knowing if it is inconsistent with reality moving forward, but again, that is from the chief today that (fingerprinting) is not a requirement,” Nixon said.
Roubian said he would like to work with municipal officials to speed up the permit process.
“There is no excuse why some police departments get their permits done within seven to 12 days and some people are complaining to us that Jackson is taking over six months for their permit to be applied and processed,” he said.
Nixon said, “Generally speaking, without getting into the specifics of what your complaint was, we certainly agree there should be no additional burdens on meeting your Second Amendment rights in Jackson or anywhere else in New Jersey. So if all the qualifications are met and all the papers are in, then it is up to not just any municipality, but the state, to get that process moving quickly.”
