New Jersey entered the fray of becoming a “shall-issue” state when it comes to permits to carry, albeit kicking and screaming. We all know that the landmark NYSRPA v. Bruen case is to thank for this wonderful thing. The upper crust in New Jersey has been having a hard time with this. The Attorney General from New Jersey, Matthew Platkin, issued a directive that required the distribution of data on permit applications and issuance. Honestly, this is going to bite him and his daddy Governor Phil Murphy in the behind in the long run. The data is in and there’s going to be a lot coming from it.

As previously reported, we have the following information from Platkin:

Collecting and analyzing data of this magnitude will assist in creating data-driven policy to enhance public safety across the state, as well as informing efficiency in administration and resource allocation pertaining to processing applications for permits to carry handguns. And importantly, it provides the Attorney General’s Office the opportunity to present the anonymized information in a dynamic, forward facing, and transparent way to assist the public in understanding the impact of the N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen decision, as well as the new gun laws enacted by Governor Phil Murphy following the disheartening decision, which set commonsense safeguards to protect our communities against senseless acts of gun violence.

“Law enforcement is now the ultimate decision maker in approving or denying applications for permits to carry handguns, and we must be aware of the impact,” said Attorney General Platkin. “By implementing these reporting procedures, we will gain better insight into the effect of a higher prevalence of handguns being carried in New Jersey due to the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, and be able to implement public safety policy that is data-informed.”

The portal is now live and we can look at permit to carry data going back to 2019. One of the things Platkin noted is that the issuance of permits fully lies in the hands of the police chiefs or with State Police Barracks. That departure was a wonderful change from having to deal with oftentimes very anti-gun judges.

Before we dive into the data, we’re going turn back the clocks first…Right after the Bruen decision, New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Pat Callahan made all kinds of statements. One of them was that he expected over 200,000 people applying for permits to carry. Well, what those “expectations” were based on, we don’t know. I’m going to say he’s a probable liar. 

Callahan either purposefully lied or grossly underestimated the numbers by a lot. In either case, he’s either incompetent or malicious. Probably both.

How can I say that? The numbers are in. There have been 33,044 “post-Buen” permits to carry issued in New Jersey. That’s accounting for the year and a half we’ve been repatriated with our rights. So Callahan was wrong, but as the data shows, Bruen really has had an impact. 

What else did Callahan have to say? According to New Jersey Monitor, an influx of crime. “Callahan said he spoke with more than 400 police executives and all 21 county prosecutors Friday morning to prepare them for both more concealed carry permit applicants and gun violence.”

Well, all the chicken littles need to take it down a notch, because Governor Murphy was just celebrating the drop in “gun violence” in New Jersey. 

"Our members of law enforcement put their lives on the line for us every singe day," Gov. Phil Murphy said. "And, it's thanks to their courageous service that we have made important, and I would argue exceptional, progress in reducing gun violence in New Jersey."

In statistics released by the Murphy's office, less than 1,000 people were shot throughout the state last year and statewide only 191 people were killed due to gun violence.

The 924 people shot in 2023 marks a 13-percent decrease in shootings over 2022 and an 8-percent decrease in fatalities due to gun violence as well, the office noted.

"We can officially report that in the year 2023, New Jersey officially saw its lowest number of shootings in nearly 15 years," Murphy -- a second-term Democrat -- said.

The jackwagons in Trenton were saying it’s because of New Jersey’s strict gun laws. Callahan, a hoplophopic jerk-off, just told us he was prepping the police forces for MORE gun violence. So what is it? More or less? I’m getting mixed messages.

Murphy, Callahan, and Platkin can’t have their cake and eat it too!

With 33,044 more citizens in New Jersey carrying firearms, gun violence went down. Murphy, you gotta accept that. Callahan, you’re probably not a bad dude, and I know you are “just following orders,” but c’mon man, you see the trend. Deep down you know that more guns in the hands of the law abiding equates to less crime. Just admit it.

And all of this also happened without the requirement that permit to carry holders have liability insurance. So besides being unconstitutional, it’s clearly not needed! 

Also during the majority of this time, the “sensitive locations” law was NOT in effect. The Third Circuit is going to have a tough sell if they’re going to keep that reinstated. Crime down, more guns being carried by the law abiding…Not looking too good for New Jersey Democrats.

What else is interesting is demographics. Of the applicants, 57% were White, 12% Black, and 4.2% Latino. According to census information, New Jersey has the following corresponding demographics, “Race and ethnicity in New Jersey is: White alone 55%, Black alone 13.1%; Hispanic 21.6%.”

This is a stunning bit of data! Beyond stunning. Okay, 57% of the permit to carry holders are White. Just two points above the average number of Whites in the state. That’s not a bad deviation considering the stereotype that gun owners are a bunch of white dudes. They’re just about right at the average in the Garden State.

It’s the number of Black applicants that’s really a problem for Governor Phil Murphy and his ilk.

12% of the permit to carry applicants were Black and 13.1% of the population in New Jersey is Black. Governor Murphy, what do you do with that kind of data? That’s not a big enough deviation for the anti-gunners. “These people” are the same ones that Assemblyman John McKeon does not want armed. This destroys the anti-gun rhetoric in New Jersey, does it not?

Now is a perfect time to thank Platkin for this wonderful gift. Y’all screwed up. I mean big time. All that this data is going to do is continue to prove the points of proponents of liberty. More guns in the hands of the law abiding in New Jersey equated to less crime. More Blacks are arming themselves. There’s a lot of fruit that’s going to come from this data, we just need to go through it all.

It’s time to get with the program, New Jersey Gentry. This is a civil liberty, people are exercising it, gun violence is going down, both Whites and Blacks are arming themselves equal to their populations, and now’s the time to just accept it. The next conversation needs to be the abolishment of the permits all together, as clearly going permitless is the next logical step. Crime would plummet!

Author’s note: I did want to toss a HT to attorney Evan Nappen. He and I talked at length about this data, what it means, and it stirred up a lot of ideas for me. So thank you Evan! Please check out his books and also his highly rated podcast, Gun Lawyer! I tune in every week!