New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew Platkin have not exactly been handling the Bruen decision’s liberation of the Garden State with grace, but hostility. One of the initiatives that Platkin launched was a “sensitive location” registry. Businesses/entities can get “Gun Free Zone” stickers from his office. Some data has come back on who has utilized the system and it’s…interesting.

Colleagues from the NJ NICS Research Center have been working with one of their researchers on getting this information – we have as well. According to their source, there’s been some delay getting their request fulfilled. However, after waiting three months, they received a response.

That original request went in on May 23rd. The records custodian for the attorney general requested extensions on June 25th, July 16th, August 5th, and August 16th.

Looking at that wait time, something else needs to be brought up. Another associate of the NNRC put in a request with the attorney general’s records custodian seeking the number of requests their office gets. The results of that request came in the other week.

“682 OPRA requests in 2 years for the NJOAG,” we were told. “So less than 1 request per day.”

OPRA requests are New Jersey’s equivalent of Freedom of Information Act requests – Open Public Records Act requests.

To be exact, the attorney general’s records office received .93 requests per day during that period.

The data for the “Gun Free Zone” stickers took three months to provide, observing the records custodian’s office is receiving less than one request for information per day. Of those less than one request a day, it’s not known how many were denied – requiring no work to fulfill.

The reply to NNRC’s associate’s records request stated in part:

You are being provided with an excel report containing the list of entities that were listed on the requests for the gun-free decals, with the city, state, zip code, and the date of the request. Please note that you are being provided with the list of all entities from whom submissions were received, including those submissions that appear to be from fictitious entities and which may contain offensive or derogatory words or phrases.

The data that was provided on the “Gun Free Zone” sticker requests told an interesting story. We didn’t know if stickers were sent to those “that appear to be from fictitious entities.” Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office was contacted for comment, and clarity was requested on the findings:

From: John Petrolino – “The Pen Patriot”
Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2024
To: OAG Press <[email protected]>
Subject: Query on “Gun Free Zone” Stickers/Locations

Attention OAG:

I’m seeking clarity and comment on a couple of things. As you’re aware, I’m a freelance writer who cove[r]s the Second Amendment.

I recently came in possession of some data a colleague sent me. I have and am going through data provided by the OAG Records Department from OPRA W218312. The information provided is a list of business names and locations of who signed up to receive a “Gun Free Zone” sticker from a program spearheaded by your office.

According to the data that I received:

• There were 423 requests for stickers between March 14th and May 30th 2024.
• Of the 423 requests, 292 were from out of state
• Of the 423 requests, 137 were from New Jersey
• Of the 292 out of state requests, 10 appear to be “questionable” – details to follow
• Of the 423 requests, 220 appear to be “fake” – details to follow

I’m including the “details” on the above points in the postscript of this email for your review/reference.

Can the office answer the following questions?

1. What’s the cost to print and send out a sticker per sticker?
2. Where do the funds come from specifically to facilitate this?
3. Of the 423 requests, 292 (69%) were from out of state. Did this office send stickers intended for N.J. businesses out of state?
4. The 220 “fake” businesses, all but five were out of state…were stickers sent to them
5. Specifically, did the office send stickers to the following overtly obvious “trolling” efforts?  * Note these are all out of state businesses

• D*ckhandlers 70 stickers
• UncostitutionalTyrants 31 stickers
• COMEANDTAKEIT 18 stickers
• EVILTYRANTS 17 stickers
• UnconstitutionalBS 17 stickers
• GobacktoDC 14 stickers
• Your Mom Incorporated 12 stickers
• P.O.S.TYRANTS 8 stickers
• Peeon2nd 8 stickers
• Sticker Palace 5 stickers
• REMEMBER RUBY RIDGE 5 stickers
• F*cking Your Mom LLC 1 sticker

6. Would Attorney General Platkin consider this program a success? Going better than expected? As expected?
7. How has this program contributed to public safety since launching? Are there any measurable effects yet?
8. I invite the attorney general to provide any open-ended commentary on the “Gun Free Zone” sticker program. I’m happy to share the office’s – and Platkin’s – sentiments with my readers verbatim.

I thank you kindly in advance for your reply. As always, I have an open-door policy with this office and Attorney General Platkin. Should the attorney general wish to chat, cigars are my treat, and we can meet at a location of his choosing.  I’ll even be happy to meet off the record, to just chew the fat. As noted, below the signature block are further details on the “questionable” and “fake” businesses for your review.

Warmest Regards,
John Petrolino 

Were these stickers sent out without regard to whom they were going to? Did a human actually vet whether or not taxpayers’ funds were being used to send stickers to organizations such as “D*ckhandlers,” “UncostitutionalTyrants,” “REMEMBER RUBY RIDGE,” and “F*cking Your Mom LLC” to name a few?

Were stickers sent to out of state organizations/businesses?

The intent of the program was to allow businesses in New Jersey to “post” their property. This all comes at the cost of the taxpayers’ dime.

While waiting on a response from Attorney General Platkin’s office, our Open Public Records Act request was fulfilled. We sought the same information that the NNRC’s associates did.

Our records request returned a list that was dated between March 14, 2024 and August 14, 2024. NNRC’s data ended on May 30th, 2024. NNRC has aggregated our additional data into their list of locations that requested “Gun Free Zone” stickers.

The N.J. Office of Attorney General, Matthew Platkin, responded to requests for comment. “Hoping to have something short[ly] to you,” they said early on Friday the 6th. “Still trying to get confirmation on part of the response.”

The office addressed five of the questions, declining to comment on any opinion related queries. 

“The cost to print and send a sticker is roughly $1.08 per sticker – approximately 35 cents each to print, plus the cost of a stamp through the U.S. Postal Service,” the statement from Platkin’s office said. “Funding comes from the State budget. No stickers were sent to out-of-state businesses or “fake” addresses/establishments. The office has no additional comment.”

Looking at the data we most recently received, there are only 180 sticker requests from entities in the State of New Jersey. That number represents some generic and duplicative entries, such as “bar,’ or “liquor store.” There were about 30 generic and/or duplicative requests. That number includes “fake” entities too.

Some of the requests were from municipalities, not businesses, or governmental agencies; “Atf,” “BATFE,” “Borough of Woodland Park,” “FBI,” “NEW JERSEY LICENSE BEVERAGE ASSOCIATION,” ”Plumsted Township,” “Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce,” “Township of Irvington,” “Township of West Orange,” and “Township of Woodbridge.” 10 entities.

The 180 requests also includes the minimal number of obvious spoof efforts from New Jersey addresses; “We the people,” “We The People,” “TyranicalGovOfficialsForPrison LLC,” “Second Amendment Does Not Support Gun Restrictions,” “Mothers for safe funs,” “WasteofMoney,” and “You Are Infringing On My Constitutional Rights.” 7 entities.

Going by what the OAG stated, approximately 173 sticker requests were valid out of the 467 total requests between March 14, 2024 and August 14, 2024. If fulfilled, the sticker program cost taxpayers $187.92.

The 173 valid sticker requests included 10 governmental, non-business entities. That leaves 163 valid sticker requests to businesses – including the duplicative and generic requests.

Platkin’s office refused to comment on whether or not the program was considered “successful.”

According to the New Jersey Department of State, there are over 861,000 “small businesses” in the Garden State. A 2021 Statista.com report notes there were over 233,000 different “business establishments” in New Jersey.

We’ll assume that the “business establishments” statistic means brick and mortar locations. Whereas, we must consider the number of “small businesses” includes businesses that are on paper or run from homes.

Only 163 out of 233,000+ potential brick and mortar locations have placed requests for stickers. .07%, that’s point zero seven percent, of all New Jersey business establishments are registered.

Important to note, there’s been zero confirmation on whether or not any of the sticker requests were made by the actual business owners. And, we don’t know if any said registrant really intends/intended on displaying the stickers. There are businesses on that list that do not have the “Gun Free Zone” sticker on their establisment’s front door or visible on the premises.

Can the so-called “success” of this program be measured considering the insufficient number of participants?

Further inquiries will be made into the topic of “Gun Free Zone” sticker requests in New Jersey. We’ll be reporting the results of what we find. In the meantime, you can explore the raw data that was used to report on this topic HERE, our request fulfillment HERE, and check out the New Jersey NICS Research Center’s page dedicated to the registry, which includes the data. In the below embed and HERE, you’ll find a pdf list of all the New Jersey locations, with none removed.