Buying a gun in High Bridge and Hunterdon County

High Bridge is a small borough on the South Branch of the Raritan with an outsized industrial past. Iron was worked here from the 1740s at Union Forge, which became the Taylor-Wharton works and kept furnaces running in the valley for the better part of two centuries, supplying shot to the Continental Army along the way. The railroad trestle that gave the borough its name carried the Central Railroad of New Jersey over the river, and its bed is now the Columbia Trail running up into Ken Lockwood Gorge.

We named the store for the town. What follows is the local version of the buying process, for people in the borough, in Clinton, Glen Gardner, Califon, Lebanon, Annandale, Flemington and the rest of Hunterdon and Warren.

Step one: the card and the permits

Nothing happens until the paperwork does. For any rifle or shotgun you need a firearms purchaser identification card. For each handgun you need a separate permit to purchase, and only one handgun may be bought in a 30-day period. Both are issued by the chief of police of the municipality where you live, or by the New Jersey State Police where a town has no full-time department, which is the case for several small Hunterdon boroughs and townships. Applications go through the State Police online system.

Budget $50 for the card and $25 for each handgun permit, plus the fingerprinting fee for a first application and an approved safety course taken within the previous four years. State law says a resident application should be decided within 30 days. Apply early, because the timetable varies by department and the December season does not wait. Full detail is in New Jersey gun laws.

Step two: order and pick a dealer

Choose what you want from the catalogue, then name a licensed New Jersey dealer at checkout. We ship the firearm to that dealer. You take your card or permit and photo identification, sign federal Form 4473, and the dealer runs the background check and finishes the state paperwork. Because there is no separate state waiting period, a pickup can usually be done the same day once your permits are in hand.

Ammunition, optics, cases and most parts ship straight to your door. Handgun ammunition is the exception: the seller has to see your firearms purchaser identification card, a copy of a handgun permit or a permit to carry, along with government photo identification. Magazines over 10 rounds cannot be shipped into New Jersey while the current limit is being enforced.

Where to shoot

The closest public range to the borough is the Clinton Wildlife Management Area range on Route 173 west of Clinton, about fifteen minutes away. Fish and Wildlife runs it free, and it is one of only five state ranges with a centerfire rifle line, in this case 100 yards, alongside shotgun, archery and muzzleloader facilities. At least one member of your party must have a current New Jersey hunting licence, handguns are not allowed on Fish and Wildlife ranges, and the shotgun range is fine shot only.

The Black River range on Dover-Chester Road in Chester is the other northern option, with archery open year round and shotgun on restricted summer hours. The Pequest range at Oxford in Warren County and the Flatbrook range at Layton in Sussex round out the northern list, with Flatbrook carrying a 75 yard rifle line.

Public land and seasons close to home

Hunterdon punches above its weight for public ground. Voorhees State Park, Ken Lockwood Gorge and South Branch Wildlife Management Area are all in Deer Zone 8, a High regulation set zone with permit shotgun and muzzleloader seasons running into February. Clinton and Musconetcong River are in Zone 7, Round Valley Recreation Area is the Zone 12 special area and Spruce Run Recreation Area is a Zone 7 special area, both with their own permit rules and both worth checking before you plan a hunt.

Clinton Wildlife Management Area is also one of the stocked pheasant areas, which makes the same short drive useful in November and December. The six-day firearm deer season falls on December 7 to 12, 2026. Remember that rifles are not legal for deer in New Jersey: it is slugs, buckshot or a .44 calibre or larger muzzleloader. The deer gun guide covers the choice, and the bird gun guide covers the stocked areas and the Delaware River flats at Phillipsburg.

Water, trails and the rest of the valley

Spruce Run Reservoir at Clinton and Round Valley Reservoir between Clinton and Lebanon are the two big pieces of water in the county, and both are state recreation areas with their own deer special area permits. Round Valley is the deepest lake in New Jersey and holds the state's trout and lake trout records; Spruce Run is shallower, windier and better for a small boat. The Columbia Trail runs from High Bridge up the South Branch through Ken Lockwood Gorge to Califon and on toward Long Valley, and the gorge itself is a year-round trout conservation stretch.

None of that is shooting ground, but it is why people live here, and it is the reason a light .22 or a break-action 20 gauge outsells anything tactical in this part of the state.

Carrying in Hunterdon

A permit to carry is a separate application to the same police chief, with four references, state training, a $200 fee and liability insurance, and it lasts two years. The sensitive places list is long and parts of the 2022 law are still in the federal courts. Read the permit to carry guide before you start.

Buying around the county

If you are in Clinton, Flemington, Lebanon or Glen Gardner the process is identical, only the police department changes. Warren County buyers in Phillipsburg, Washington and Hackettstown follow the same route. Our city pages cover 22 towns across the state with the local deer zone, the nearest public range and the dealer situation for each. The High Bridge page is the one nearest the store.

General information, not legal advice. Current as of September 2026. Laws change; check the official source before you act.