MAPLEWOOD GUN INFORMATION WITHHELD

Want to know how many gun are in Maplewood? Good luck finding out.

After the tragedy of Newtown, Ct. occurred, a newspaper in Westchester County published the names and addresses of all of those in the area that had registered firearms.

This brought some opposition, but raised a good issue: Who has firearms in each community?

I sought to find out how many firearms were in Maplewood, and who had them.

Be clear, I had no intention of posting names and addresses of those with registered firearms, but sought the information so that I could report how many firearms are registered in Maplewood and how many residents had firearms.

I did not realize such a request would prove fruitless due to state law that prohibits such data from being released.

I began with a simple public records request to the Township of Maplewood, which has been very helpful and remains so on the public records requests I have made in the recent past.

When I submitted a request for a list of those with firearms registered in Maplewood, I received the following response from Township Clerk Liz Fritzen:

I am in receipt of your request for Open Public Records as follows:

“I am requesting a list of all firearms registered in Maplewood to Maplewood residents, documents for each registered firearm filed with the Township.”

There is no individual “list of firearms registrations” document that exists in the Maplewood Police Department. As to the request for “documents for each registered firearm filed with the Township”, the Chief of Police has reported to me that there are over 2,000 Police Department files that would contain multiple documents related to each firearm investigation and a registration form.  

The request would require a hand search of each of some 2,000 file folders to find, review, redact, and copy each registration document individually. That process would conservatively take an estimated time of approximately 200 hours and would take several weeks to complete. 

At a clerical workers rate that would amount to approximately $2,400.00 in special processing time charges plus copy charges to process your Open Public Records Act request. 

Prior to any work being initiated on your request you need to advise me in writing as to how you wish to proceed. The figure of $2,400.00 in clerical time is approximate.  Any copies are an additional .05 cents per page.

I await your reply. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

                                                            Very truly yours,

                                                            Elizabeth J. Fritzen

                                                            Township Clerk

It is understandable that the township has limited resources and manpower to go searching for individual records, although it surprised me that such data was not readily available on a computer somewhere. One would think such data is filed into computer resources for quick retrieval.

In an effort to bypass the need for individual file reviews, I then submitted another public records request asking for two pieces of data.

1.         The number of firearms registered in Maplewood.

2.         The number of residents with registered fire arms.

This again was denied as per the letter received below:

Dear Mr. Strupp:

This will serve as a response to your additional question on the above named subject previously responded to.

Please be advised that there is no such listing. The Township does not make lists, we supply documents, and there is no such document.

                                                            Very truly yours,

                                                            Elizabeth J. Fritzen

                                                            Township Clerk

If the letter of the law states that only the release of documents is covered by the public records act, it seemed that the township would be unable, or unwilling, to provide this simple information.

I then turned to the County of Essex, with requests to the County Executive’s Office, the Sheriff and the County Prosecutor. None of them were able to provide the simple answer to how many firearms are registered in Maplewood.

The Sheriff’s Office recommended the State Police of New Jersey. When I reached out to the State Police media relations office, I was told that state law bars the state police from releasing the information.

He cited this portion of the state law, which indicates the registrations are not public record:


N.J.A.C. 13:54-1.15  Confidentiality of background investigations, permits, firearms identification cards, licenses, certifications, certificates, forms of register, registration statements and applications.

Any background investigation conducted by the chief of police, the Superintendent or the 

county prosecutor, of any applicant for a permit, firearms identification card license, or registration, 

in accordance with the requirements of this chapter, is not a public record and shall not be disclosed to any person not authorized by law or this chapter to have access to such investigation, including 

the applicant. 

Any application for a permit, firearms identification card, or license, and any 

document reflecting the issuance or denial of such permit, firearms identification card, or license, 

and any permit, firearms identification card, license, certification, certificate, form of register, or 

registration statement, maintained by any State or municipal governmental agency, is not a public 

record and shall not be disclosed to any person not authorized by law or this chapter to have access  

to such documentation, including the applicant, except on the request of persons acting in their 

governmental capacities for purposes of the administration of justice

When I reminded the person that I was not seeking personal information about the firearm owners, just the data on how many there are, I was told that is barred under that state law as well.

So at a time when gun rights and gun control is a major issue, it is apparently impossible to find out how many of our neighbors own guns, and how many own more than one.