IN THE MATTER OF THE APPEAL OF THE DENIAL OF MIKHAIL POLATOV'S APPLICATION FOR A FIREARMS PURCHASER IDENTIFICATION CARD, ETC. (GPA-0018-23, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) - Published Appellate

     In this case of first impression, the court must interpret recent amendments to N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(c)(5).  The statute previously prohibited the issuance of a permit to purchase a handgun (PPH) and a firearms purchaser identification card (FPIC) "[t]o any person where the issuance would not be in the interest of the public health, safety or welfare."  In 2022, the Legislature amended the statute by concluding it with the phrase:  "because the person is found to be lacking the essential character of temperament necessary to be entrusted with a firearm." L. 2022, c. 131, § 2. 

     Mikhail Polatov appeals a June 13, 2024 Law Division order denying his application for a FPIC and a PPH under the recent amendment.  The trial court denied his application because he lacked "the essential character of temperament necessary to be entrusted with a firearm" under N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(c)(5).  The trial court reasoned that Polatov was not truthful to the court about the disposition of and circumstances surrounding a 2011 shoplifting offense in New York that was resolved through an administrative dismissal. 

     The court reverses.  Polatov's PPH and FPIC application should have been granted because the trial court's reliance on its credibility determination regarding the 2011 offense, which does not disqualify his application, is not a basis under the amended N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(c)(5) to deny the application.