Gov. Patrick vs. the Second Amendment.
Gov. Deval Patrick filed a special appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008 that would drastically increase the fees for certain firearm licenses. The cost of the License to Carry Firearms would double under the proposal, jumping from $100 (for six years) to $200 (for six years). The non-resident License to Carry Firearms fee would jump from $100 for one year to $250 for one year.Licensed firearm dealers will also feel the bite as their license fees would be increased from $100 for three years to $250. The governor then adds a $100 inspection fee in the second and third years of the license, which would turn the current $100 three-year dealer's license into a $450 three-year license.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment indeed guarantees American citizens the right to keep and bear arms, and experts predicted that the gun grabbers would try to use other tactics to keep guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens — and they were right. Not even a month has passed and the governor is already trying to tax a constitutional right out of reach.
"In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling, this new proposal from the Governor can only be viewed as an attempt to tax people out of their civil rights," said Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners' Action League. "With this new proposal, the Governor continues to demonstrate his willingness to attack lawful gun owners while doing nothing to reduce violent crime. The highest court in the nation has ruled that citizens have an individual right to possess a firearm and now our Governor is trying to tax us out of that right!"
Other New England states charge the following for a license to carry firearms: New Hampshire: $10 (good for four years); Rhode Island: $40 (good for four years); Connecticut: $35 (five years); and Maine: $35 (four years). So, while other New England residents pay an average of $7 a year for a firearms license, the governor in Mass. wants to gouge us out of $33 per year, almost five times what the residents in neighboring states pay — for a constitutional right. And then a three-year dealer license is jumping $350.
"Gov. Patrick feels he can now try to supplement the budget deficit on the backs of small mom-and-pop businesses and law-abiding gun owners," said Jake McGuigan, the director of government relations for the National Shooting Sports Foundation Director. "Clearly, the goal of this administration is to further restrict the rights of its citizens and businesses through a hefty Second Amendment tax."
UPDATE: More from No Looking Backwards.
