Old Tappan N.J. Votes Against 2A Rebate Resolution

The Borough of Old Tappan, New Jersey put up for a vote a permit to carry rebate resolution on August 18, 2025. Unlike what we’ve seen with earlier efforts in other communities, the all Republican council voted down the measure.

In the wake of NYSRPA v. Bruen, Trenton lawmakers imposed a stiff fee to be added to the carry permit application process. Starting this past June, towns across the Garden State have recognized the unconstitutional nature of the punitive fee that Governor Phil Murphy enacted and they have been resolving to refund the local municipal portion of those fees. At their last meeting, Old Tappan, New Jersey became the first town to introduce the measure and then subsequently vote it down.

Under the leadership of Mayor Thomas Gallagher, the all Republican council voted against the measure. Councilmembers during the debate phase of the resolution introduction compared the $150 permit to carry fee to other municipal obligations or seemed dismissive of the real burden the fee placed on applicants.

“Fees don’t infringe on your right to own a pet, build on your property or even own a gun,” Councilman Jin Yhu said. “Rather, fees help us offset the costs when residents decide to exercise some of these rights.”

Councilman Ron Binaghi Jr. said he did some research. Binaghi accurately listed that the financial burden of becoming a gun owner in the State of New Jersey could be upwards of $1,000. Once accounting for all other fees, training, and firearm purchase, Binaghi however said, “Paying $150 for a permit is one of the lower expenses on this list.” He further observed, “So when you add it all up, I don’t feel like it creates a hardship for the prospective gun owner who can afford the other items on the list.”

“If you take away the word gun, it becomes just a permit application,” Binaghi further mused, “and I feel it should be treated as the same as any other permit application, which includes a fee for the services that the borough provides.”

Two citizens spoke out about the resolution being passed.

Mike Azarian of Old Tappan spoke against passage and said, “Anyone who owns a handgun and can afford a handgun and wants to have a concealed carry should certainly be able to afford the fee for that.” He further noted that “those fees can be used to further educate people in our town, our children and our students on the safety of weapons and how dangerous they are in the community.”

Patrick Gambuti Jr. of Old Tappan recognized that “our fundamental rights should not be impeded by cost” and “that exercising one’s rights should be accessible,” but fell short of stating the Second Amendment is such a right worthy of not being taxed. “Every resident, gun owner or not, will effectively subsidize the permitting process, including people like me who do not like guns, especially, and I especially don’t like the idea of concealed carry guns.”

Joe LoPorto, the director of legal operation for New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate spoke during the public comment phase of the August 18 meeting. LoPorto explained that he was there representing the shared interests of over 100,000 members of NJFOS, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action.

LoPorto was also present for and spoke at the July 21 meeting, when the resolution was brought to the council to consider adding to the agenda. “As I said last time, no constitutional right should be hidden behind an exorbitant pay wall,” LoPorto said at the August meeting.

He drew a parallel between other rights and the Second Amendment and stated:

No one should be charged for the right to come here and speak to this council, no one should be charged for [the] right to exercise their religion. The Second Amendment is not a second-class right. It is the same as anything else in the Bill of Rights, and there are certainly people who are foreclosed from exercising their rights to protect themselves because of these exorbitant fees. So it is factually untrue that anyone can afford these things.

Councilman Juan Marti brought the resolution to the town for introduction. Marti explained the factual basis around the rebate resolution and how “the same process, background checks has to be done when somebody goes to get a firearms ID card, which they need in the State of New Jersey, the same background has to be done when somebody wants to buy a pistol.”

The documents that Marti referenced are required to even apply for a permit to carry. He explained that essentially all the vetting is done prior to carry permit application and the “$150 fee was basically a slap to law-abiding gun owners in New Jersey” and done with malicious intent by Trenton lawmakers and Governor Murphy.

Marti discussed that affordability is a big barrier to the exercise of the right. Marti went on in his discussion citing statistics from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.

“Black and Hispanic residents experience poverty at more than double the rate of white residents in the state of New Jersey,” he explained. “So who are we really affecting here?” While affordability, he said, is not an issue that specifically plagues him, he did note that he’s a Hispanic male, a member of one of the demographics disproportionately affected by the high carry permit fee.

Before the vote was brought up Mayor Thomas Gallagher spoke from the dais. “Let me be clear that I support our Second Amendment right, but I don’t feel this resolution challenges this right,” Gallagher said. 

He said that there are many unfunded mandates from Trenton and said, “Our police, first responders, golf course, golf course department, Department of Public Works, all face increased training, increased licensing fees and other mandates. These fees, these fees collected, although not a lot are used by Old Tappan to balance our budget for all residents and help pay for a part of many of these unfunded mandates.”

Council President William Boyce only spoke briefly when he was asked to vote on the measure. “I had some thoughts, but ‘no,’ with caveat,” Boyce said. “I don’t think this is quite thought out yet properly, but I think there’s more work to be done on this topic.”

Whether or not Council President William Boyce will work further on the topic has yet to be revealed.

Scrutiny has come from the groups supporting the fee rebate resolution program since the news of Old Tappan voting down the measure.

“Unfortunately, the leadership from Old Tappan, N.J. completely dropped the ball and voted down the measure after it was introduced,” a release from Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said. “Led by Mayor Thomas Gallagher, the all Republican council failed to pass the resolution.”

The Committee was in the process of celebrating the passage of the resolution in other towns, bringing the total number up to six, when Old Tappan scuttled the resolution.

“I’m very pleased to see so many towns committing to the permitting fee nullification program we’ve been championing with our partners at NRA-ILA and NJFOS. The Borough of Butler passed their resolution August 18, following Vernon Township’s passage on the 11th,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “I’m tremendously disappointed with Mayor Thomas Gallagher, Council President William Boyce, Councilmember Ronald Binaghi Jr., and Councilmember Jin Yhu from Old Tappan. They voted against liberty in their town to defend a discriminatory and exclusionary policy.”

NJFOS representative Joe LoPorto addressed the continued strong showing of support of the measure moving across the state as well as hinted at the support GOP candidates in the Garden State often expect from gun owners when it comes to elections.

“We are extremely proud of the energy that has built up in this project, the hard work our members are putting in and the hard work being put in by our friends and partners at the NRA and CCRKBA. It’s an important election in N.J. this year and the GOP clearly wants to court votes from the members of our organizations. This is an opportunity for politicians at the ground level to demonstrate their commitment to actually protecting fundamental rights,” said LoPorto. “The Trump Administration has made the Second Amendment a national priority. N.J. GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli has made the Second Amendment a priority for his campaign. When local elected officials claim to support the Second Amendment and then vote to preserve discriminatory and exorbitant barriers to exercising those rights, it undermines everything that is being done across the state and across the nation.”

The permitting fee nullification movement has steam and it appears will continue. It was stated in the joint release that “45 other municipalities across the Garden State, virtually in all 21 counties.” We reported recently that fee nullification efforts have made it to Virginia and it’s presumed similar policies will continue to be adopted in freedom-loving jurisdictions across the country.

If you’d like to track the progress of this movement in New Jersey, NJFOS has a map showing jurisdiction status. Also, our friends at New2A are maintaining a comprehensive chronological list of resolution statuses.

For gun owners in New Jersey who are interested in bringing a permit to carry fee rebate resolution to their council, the policy brief and model resolution for this initiative can be found HERE. New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate, the group handling many of the boots-on-the-ground portions of this initiative, request that you reach out to them if you’re going to initiate conversations with your council by emailing them HERE.

A video of the relevant parts of the August 18 OId Tappan meeting can be viewed HERE or in the embed below.

  

Author’s Note: I serve as an unpaid volunteer member of the board of directors of Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Bearing Arms’ pro-2A reporting that takes on the gun control lobby and their political allies? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.

Join Bearing Arms VIP and use the promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!