Englishtown’s Move May Spark an Avalanche in Garden State

New Jersey has a reputation when it comes to guns, and it’s not a great one. I’ve mentioned before that I joked with our own John Petrolino that he should move to a freer state like Illinois or Massachusetts so that he could enjoy his gun rights.

And the really terrifying thing is that it’s not that much of a joke. Or, it wasn’t when I made it, anyway.

But Englishtown, New Jersey, did something kind of cool. They decided that the fees they were required to collect were unconstitutional, so they decided to just refund them.

Huge.

Not every penny, mind you, because $50 of the $200 fee has to go to the state, but what they’re supposed to keep, they just didn’t.

The idea has raised some eyebrows outside of the state. In fact, the Buckeye Firearms Association is talking about it.

A quiet tax on your rights

New Jersey’s carry permit system was already among the strictest in the nation. Then, after the 2022 Bruen decision from the U.S. Supreme Court struck down “justifiable need” laws, the state responded not by honoring the ruling but by jacking up the cost to carry. Instead of $50, it’s now $200. Of that, $150 goes straight into the pocket of your local town government.

Let that sink in: You already passed the background checks, the training, the paperwork — and now your town wants to cash in on your constitutional rights?

Mayor Francisco, himself a former plaintiff in a federal gun rights case, wasn’t having it.

“There’s nothing in state law that says we can’t give the money back,” Francisco told Bearing Arms host Cam Edwards. And that’s exactly what Englishtown did — rebate the full $150 municipal cut to anyone who applies for a carry permit and proves residency.

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The spark that ignites a fire

Mayor Francisco says he has already heard from mayors and council members in towns across New Jersey, many who want to implement similar rebates. While he expects only a few to act in the short term, he believes a few dozen towns could pass similar resolutions by year’s end.

That’s a serious blow to Trenton’s gun control machine.

Let’s be real: The $200 carry fee isn’t about safety — it’s about keeping the “wrong people” from carrying. And by “wrong people,” the state means law-abiding working-class residents who can’t spare an extra $200.

But in Englishtown, they’re no longer priced out.

That’s exactly right, and as more towns opt to do just this, it’s going to send a clear signal.

More than that, though, there are other states out there with similar schemes in place. Towns there can do similarly and refund the money, thus making it much more affordable to exercise your right to keep and bear arms in hostile states.

It could well spark an avalanche throughout the nation.

What will be interesting is if anti-gun lawmakers try to take action to curb it. If so, then it becomes very clear what they’re trying to do here. They can’t pretend it’s about public safety, especially if communities like Englishtown are just as safe as before, if not safer. They’ll have to tip their hands that this is about discouraging the right to keep and bear arms.

And that’s never going to fly with the courts, even as they currently stand. You simply cannot punish people for wanting to exercise a right. You might be able to get away with regulating it and requiring permits, but fees for those permits need to be reasonable and primarily cover the costs associated with the permitting process.

In fact, if Englishtown is willing to refund its cut of the permitting fees, it suggests that the fees go well beyond that.

Shocking no one, I might add.

I’m looking forward to seeing what happens from here.