By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A third community in New Jersey has voted to refund its share of the state gun permit fee to local residents, handing another victory to gun rights organizations in their effort to partially refund the exorbitant fees to gun owners.
New Jersey charges $200 for a gun permit, of which $150 goes to local communities. But now, the borough of Dumont, in Bergen County, has resolved to return its portion to the permit applicants. Earlier, councils in the Borough of Englishtown and Franklin Township adopted similar resolutions, after being approached by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action and the New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate.
Gun Rights Groups Join Forces to Promote Carry Permit Refund
In a prepared statement, CCRKBA Managing Director Andrew Gottlieb observed, “State lawmakers set the high permit fee in an effort to discourage average citizens from applying for carry permits. We joined forces with our friends at NRA/ILA and NJFOS in an effort to provide relief, and we’re happy to say it’s beginning to work.
“But by writing the law to apportion 75 percent of the fee back to local municipalities,” he added, “the state opened the door for this refund effort, and we hope to expand this project to every community in the Garden State. Our purpose is simple. We want to make exercising the right to bear arms as affordable as possible so that no New Jersey resident can be literally disarmed by a burdensome permit fee requirement.
“Working with our colleagues in the Second Amendment community to counter the state’s outrageous fee scheme is a great endeavor,” Gottlieb stated. “It’s almost like playing Robin Hood, and our hats are off to all of the community officials who have shown such loyalty to their constituents.”
According to a report at AmmoLand, with momentum apparently building, the hope is more communities will follow the lead of Dumont, Englishtown and Franklin Township, and start returning money to their constituents.
“We’re going to continue this effort until we’ve succeeded across the state,” Gottlieb vowed. “We know this isn’t going to happen overnight, but it is going to happen. New Jersey’s beleaguered, law-abiding gun owners deserve no less.”
