The effort by several gun-rights groups to persuade New Jersey cities to voluntarily drop the excessively high concealed-carry permit fees imposed by the state continues to show success.
On December 8, we reported that Howell, in Monmouth County, had become the twelfth municipality in New Jersey to refund all or substantially all the fees required to obtain a permit to carry. On December 10, Toms River city councilors voted to waive the fee, making that community the 13th to do so voluntarily.
Toms River, the second largest municipality in Ocean County and largest to pass a fee nullification resolution, joined Howell, which is the second largest town in Monmouth County, marking a major victory for the movement.
After the 2022 ruling in New York Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, New Jersey lawmakers increased the cost of a concealed carry permit to $200. Currently, $50 of the fee is paid directly to the Superintendent of the State Police, while the remaining $150 goes to the applicant’s municipality.
However, there’s nothing barring jurisdictions from refunding applicants the municipality’s portion of the fee. A negligible amount of these funds goes toward the administration of permit issuance.
Seeing an opportunity, the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), New Jersey Firearm Owners Syndicate (NJFOS) and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) set out to appeal to municipalities to waive the $150 portion of the fee earmarked for municipalities.
“We’re proud to stand with NJFOS and CCRKBA in urging municipalities to significantly reduce the financial burden placed on New Jerseyans seeking to exercise their constitutional rights,” John Commerford, then executive director of NRA-ILA, said at the time. “No one should be priced out of their right to self-defense. Eliminating these unjust costs is a common-sense step toward ensuring equal access to a fundamental freedom.”
In a press release about the Toms River vote, City Council President Justin Lamb said “the fee structure, as imposed by the State, has created an unnecessary financial barrier for law-abiding residents exercising a constitutional right.
“Our hope is other municipalities continue to follow suit, compounding further on Koons v. Platkin, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit has called into question even the $50 fee New Jersey collects as unconstitutional,” Lamb said in a press release.
With the latest vote in Toms River, the list of towns now includes Englishtown and Howell Township (Monmouth County), Franklin Borough, Hardyston, Vernon and Hopatcong (Sussex County), Dumont and Cresskill (Bergen County), Butler (Morris County), Medford Lakes (Burlington County), Readington (Hunterdon County), and Beachwood and Toms River (Ocean County).
In a report at bearingarms.com, John Petrolino noted that New Jersey gun owners wanting to bring this fight to their own town can download the policy brief and model resolution on the NJFOS website. For anyone starting to engage with their town’s leaders, NJFOS requests that they email Joe LoPorto to discuss a strategy and to track their efforts.
