For a state so closely associated with the mafia in the popular culture, you'd think that New Jersey would recognize that criminals can get guns no matter what you do, and that there's no reason to punish the law-abiding for that fact.
Of course, you'd be wrong, as we all know.
The state is one of the most anti-gun states in the nation, and it seems dedicated to making life as difficult as possible for those souls who want to exercise their constitutionally protected rights.
But, as we've noted, a number of cities in the state are taking some matters into their own hands. While the state requires them to collect fees that are pretty excessive by most standards, no law says they have to keep them, so they're not. They're giving them back. What they can, anyway.
And now more have joined or will join their ranks.
With the mayor saying it's "an unnecessary tax on a resident exercising a constitutional right," the Township Committee has introduced an ordinance refunding $150 of the $200 fee to obtain a permit to carry a concealed gun.
The Township Committee will hold a public hearing and final vote on Oct. 20 that was introduced by a 4-1 vote at its Sept. 15 meeting. Committeeman Jonathan Heller cast the dissenting vote.
Mayor Adam Mueller said the fee for a concealed carry permit increased from $20 to $200 after the United States Supreme Court in 2022 struck down state laws requiring residents to have a special need to carry weapons outside the home.
After the Supreme Court ruling, the "wonderful" state Legislature raised the fee for the permit from $20 to $200, with the State Police getting $50 and municipalities getting $150, Mueller said.
Even when the fee was a "reasonable" $20, the mayor said, the state would "probably reject" the application.
Now, this one seems to still be up in the air, though it seems that it might be likely to pass.
My understanding, via our own John Petrolino, who lives in the Garden State and was a great help in this piece, is that another town voted to do the same on Wednesday night. He'll have that story soon.
These are the towns that have already passed such a measure. It will be kept up to date as quickly as possible.
Now, the $150 is all people can get back, because the $50 goes to the state. Not for processing, of course, but because they think law-abiding citizens who opt to exercise their rights should be on the hook for the actions of criminals. That money goes into the Victims of Crime Compensation Office (VCCO) account.
That's an issue.
See, the Third Circuit ruled in the Koons decision that the fee was likely unconstitutional.
New Jersey charges a fee of $50 to be “deposited into the Victims of Crime Compensation Office account.” N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:58-4(c). The statute does not connect that fee to either the administration of the permitting scheme itself or maintenance of public order created by the licensed conduct. Contra N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:58-4(c) (designating $150 “to defray the costs of investigation, administration, and processing of the permit to carry handgun applications.”). Accordingly, New Jersey’s VCCO fee charges applicants for costs neither incidental to nor necessarily caused by their bearing arms. Cox, 312 U.S. at 577. For this reason, the Siegel Plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their challenge to it.
I'm not sure if, in time, the courts will order the $50 fee to be refunded to those who have paid it, but if they did, that would be interesting to behold. Then, these folks would get their permits for free.
It's not constitutional carry, but it would be a close second.
The truth is that New Jersey doesn't view the right to keep and bear arms as the right to keep and bear arms. They've done everything they could to make it impossible, just short of an outright ban, and that's only because they know they'd never get away with it. They'd do it if they could.
If the court bounces the $50 fee for the VCCO, they'll try to find another way to screw gun owners. It's the way of the anti-gunner.
Meanwhile, it should be remembered that numerous cities in New Jersey are extremely violent, and the laws have done nothing to prevent that. Funny how often that works out, isn't it?
Editor’s Note: The radical left, which runs New Jersey like a personal fiefdom, will stop at nothing to enact its radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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