The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) has announced a legal battle against New Jersey officials, following a series of rejected public records requests. John Petrolino, a journalist and member of the CCRKBA Board of Directors, filed the lawsuit in the N.J. Superior Court in Mercer County, alleging that the state has blocked transparency regarding firearm permit data.
The legal action, John Petrolino v. New Jersey State Police & Trooper “X”, stems from Petrolino’s ongoing investigation into the state’s permit-to-carry system. In 2024, Petrolino’s reporting highlighted a significant disparity in permit approvals.
His findings showed that Black applicants in New Jersey were denied carry permits for subjective, non-criminal reasons at more than double the rate of white applicants.
Following those findings, Petrolino sought to expand his research by requesting statistics on retired police officer carry permits. He specifically requested data on demographics—including race, sex, and county location—as well as the success rates for appeals within the New Jersey State Police (NJSP). According to Petrolino, every request he submitted was denied.
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The complaint argues that Petrolino and the general public have a “strong interest” in understanding the relationship between the demographics of the general public and retired law enforcement officers in the permitting process. The legal brief further contends that by depriving Petrolino of his common law right of access, officials violated the New Jersey Civil Rights Act.
Petrolino stated that the lack of cooperation from state officials left him with few alternatives. “The NJSP has denied countless records requests that I’ve made over the years, never fulfilling even one,” Petrolino said. “When I emailed them about these denials, an unnamed person at NJSP basically told me to sue them — so here we are.”
The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief to compel the state to produce the requested documents. While the CCRKBA is not a formal party to the litigation, the organization has voiced its support for the effort to increase transparency in the “Garden State.”
“Records concerning the retired police officer permits are about as public as you can get,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Do they have the same level of perceived bias in their permitting statistics? Or perhaps worse yet, do they not? The public has a right to know this information.”
The case remains active as supporters of the filing anticipate a court ruling that would force New Jersey officials to release the disputed data.
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