Second Amendment A-Team in Action: CCRKBA + NRA + NJFOS

Very recently, a small but significant victory in Englishtown, New Jersey signaled that the Second Amendment may be undergoing a renaissance in the Garden State. As you may know, New Jersey does allow concealed-carry in accordance with the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision. However, just as in New York, Massachusetts, and California, the state’s legislature continues to find ways to make actually getting a CCW expensive and onerous.

It’s time to change that, thought the Citizens Committee for the Right to Bear Arms (CCRKBA) …

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The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is pleased to announce a partnership with New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate and the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action. In a CCRKBA and NJFOS backed initiative, Englishtown, N.J. passed a resolution to refund applicants the municipal portion of permit to carry fees. The three organizations have decided to come together to replicate the success in Englishtown, and carry these rebate resolutions across the Garden State.

The issue at hand is permits to carry are $200 in N.J. But, of that fee, $150 goes to the local municipality. 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.

“A lot of revolutionary ideas get drawn on cocktail napkins, but it wasn’t until after we saw how successful this project was in Englishtown that we knew we were onto something big,” Alan Gottlieb, the chairman of CCRKBA said. “Partnering with NRA-ILA and NJFOS is a no-brainer. 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.”

“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,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director, John Commerford. “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.”

“Our coalition here reflects how serious and important this issue is,” Joe LoPorto, the director of legal operations of NJFOS said. “Putting core constitutional rights behind prohibitively high fees is a regrettable and discriminatory strategy that states like New Jersey have employed in the wake of Bruen. This strategy harms the poor and the vulnerable. But communities across the State can now fix Trenton’s bad policies and help restore some semblance of equal protection under the law.”

In the weeks since Englishtown passed their resolution, citizens in dozens of other towns have brought up the issue with their own councils. We congratulate Franklin Township on adopting its own resolution returning carry fees back to residents, and encourage every locality in New Jersey to do the same.

If you’re in N.J. and want to approach your town about this, a policy brief that you can read over and share with your officials can be found HERE.