By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Two months after gun rights organizations teamed up to convince New Jersey municipalities to refund their share of carry permit fees to individual applicants, another township is giving serious consideration to the idea and will take a final vote Oct. 20.
A public hearing will precede that vote.
According to MyCentralNJ.com, Readington Township held first reading of an ordinance Sept. 15, which passed 4-1 with Committeeman Jonathan Heller providing the “No” vote.
The effort—mounted by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action and New Jersey Firearm Owners Syndicate—launched the effort earlier this year. Under the plan, local governments refund 75 percent—a sum of $150, out of the $200 state fee—to carry permit applicants. Englishtown was the first locale to pass the refund ordinance, followed by Franklin Borough. Then came Dumont Borough, in Bergen County.
The fee was raised from $20 to $200 by the Democrat-controlled legislature in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the case which declared New York’s similar restrictive licensing scheme to be unconstitutional. Critics say the fee increase was deliberately designed to discourage private citizens from applying for carry permits.
In July, CCRKBA noted in a news release, “There’s nothing barring jurisdictions from refunding applicants the municipality’s portion of the fee. A negligible amount of these funds go into the administration of issuing the permits. This shows the fee is strictly punitive in nature.”
At the time, CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb explained, “We’re working to get these unconstitutional fees refunded back to as many applicants as possible. These fees are exorbitant and fly in the face of Bruen.”
Under the current fee law, $50 of the $200 licensing fee goes to the New Jersey State Police. The bulk goes to local municipalities. Refunding that portion to the applicants is not prohibited by the law.
“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,” said CCRKBA Managing Director Andrew Gottlieb.
CCRKBA has called the $200 fee “exorbitant.”
