Gov. Murphy’s Gun Tax Falls Flat -- Again

[Charlie T Waite]

New Jersey gun owners received a bit of good news recently when the Legislature sent the budget to Gov. Phil Murphy, and it did not contain the revenues from massive hikes the executive had earlier proposed on firearm permitting fees. 

Murphy had unsuccessfully proposed these Draconian fees before.  Unrelenting, his 2020 budget proposal would have resulted in pistol purchase permit fees increasing from $2 to $48 and Firearms Identification card fees increasing from $5 to $98.  It’s even more offensive considering the vast majority of states don’t even require these bureaucratic and costly hoops in the first place.  This amounts to a poll tax on gun ownership and a fundamental constitutional right.  The Governor, a Wall Street multi-millionaire who enjoys around-the-clock protection and a taxpayer-paid security detail, has clearly made his position known: elitists with money have more rights than average citizens.  The ability to provide for one’s own self defense is a right and not a luxury reserved for the wealthy few.  Murphy wants to make firearm ownership so expensive that average citizens simply could not afford to buy a firearm.

At a time when Americans are having a tough time balancing their checkbooks and are witnessing historic civil unrest, many of them are trying to purchase firearms for the first time. This latest exhibit is just more proof how out-of-touch this wealthy and elitist Governor is with the average person. Thankfully, even the Legislature seemed to agree that Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposal was beyond extreme.