In a groundbreaking move that may be a first in the nation, and certainly in New Jersey, Englishtown Mayor Daniel Francisco has set a national precedent by initiating a policy to refund municipal fees for concealed carry permits. This is a step any town across the country could emulate to protect Second Amendment rights from government taxation.
After the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen, the State of New Jersey was forced to start issuing permits to carry a handgun without considering the subjective “justifiable need” requirement. At the time, the cost of a carry permit was only $20. In the following months, the New Jersey legislature passed a bill, which, among other things, raised the cost of a carry permit to $200, of which $150 goes to the municipality and $50 goes to the state.
Click here for a detailed breakdown of the fees and instructions on how to apply.
On June 11, the Englishtown council, in Monmouth County, on a 4-1 vote (one councilman was absent), passed Resolution No. 2025-101, authorizing a refund of the municipal portion of the handgun carry permit fee. This provides substantial savings to what has been a significant financial barrier to exercising Second Amendment rights for many.
News2A had a chance to catch up with Mayor Francisco, and this is what he said:
Englishtown is sending a message across the entire state – that even though the NJ legislature doesn’t respect our residents, we do. I’m proud to be a bellwether for the liberty movement, and thankful to my council for their integrity to get this measure passed.
I’ve been a plaintiff in my own federal cases where I’ve experienced first-hand the abuses of the State. It’s my job as a steward of my residents to protect them in any way possible from those same abuses. I am an unapologetic defender of natural rights, and NJ needs hundreds of other municipalities taking the same principled stance for their own residents. I’m calling on every mayor to shepherd their governing bodies and to emulate this ground-breaking resolution passed by Englishtown.
Francisco proposed this policy earlier in the year and worked tirelessly to educate the council on the benefits of such a measure. He credits the New Jersey grassroots organization, New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate (NJFOS), and its Director of Legal Operations, Joe LoPorto, for their support and convincing testimony.
During open testimony before the council, LoPorto said:
We would never hide other core constitutional rights, like the right to free speech, the right to assemble, the right to freely exercise religion, behind a massive paywall. And we all know that policy would have a significantly disparate impact and deleterious effects on BIPOC communities.
According to the press release put out by NJFOS, this measure was also supported by Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA).
The refund policy applies to payments made on or after January 1, 2025, and the resolution takes effect immediately. Refunds will be issued upon the applicant’s submission to the Borough Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of:
- proof of payment, and
- confirmation that the application was processed through the Borough.
Daniel Francisco has been involved in Second Amendment activism in New Jersey for years and ran as a Second Amendment purist as a significant part of his mayoral campaign before winning the GOP primary and being sworn into office in February of 2024.
It should be noted that due to Mayor Francisco’s friendliness toward the Second Amendment, two new gun shops are slated to open in the town. The mayor echoed this in the following statement:
I’m thrilled to continue my work as an advocate for firearm owners across New Jersey, but most importantly, as the leader of Englishtown as we go through a development renaissance of our Main Street.
Francisco was a plaintiff in an FPC-backed lawsuit, Francisco v. Cooke, challenging New Jersey’s unconstitutional carry restrictions, and is also a co-plaintiff in Struck v. Platkin.
After the success of Francisco v. Cooke, Daniel Francisco became the first person in Monmouth County to obtain a permit to carry a handgun.
The editors of this publication reached out to the office of the New Jersey attorney general for comment on this story. At the time of publication, they have not responded.
