On Wednesday, February 4, the Plumsted, New Jersey council voted 4-1 to pass a resolution to rebate the full $150 municipal portion of the state-mandated carry permit fee, and in doing so became the first town in 2026 to pass such a measure.
Resolution 2026-98 is effective immediately and is retroactive to January 7. The measure authorizes the town’s Chief Financial Officer to rebate the full $150 carry permit fee for any resident who applied for a permit and can furnish a receipt as proof of payment.
The Plumsted resolution passed with help from a local resident, Brendon Cannestro, who introduced it for consideration to the mayor and council in 2025. Although the mayor would not put it on the agenda, Mr. Cannestro’s persistent advocacy, including attending meetings, writing to his elected representatives, and speaking in support of his rights, moved the new mayor to add the bill for consideration this year.
During his testimony in support of the measure, Englishtown Mayor Daniel Francisco reminded the council that these measures are getting national attention and that these are natural rights that predate the Constitution. (You can listen to the audio of his testimony here and here.)
“Policing is not meant to be a transactional service. Before December 2022, municipalities collected $0 on all carry applications and had no choice but to adjudicate them. The sudden calls by Republican politicians to insist on charging fees to exercise natural rights is a gross offense,” said Mayor Francisco, in a statement to News2A. “Despite one member of the governing body making the same arguments as the Lacey representatives a few weeks ago, thankfully the other four agreed with our logic on natural rights. I’m thankful that these four members added Plumsted to the ranks of municipalities nullifying our horrendous state law. This is as much a cultural campaign as a political one. And there is still a lot of education to dispense.”
In a bit of administrative drama, after testimony was heard, the council pulled the resolution – which is normally an indication that it will not be voted forward. The initial resolution proposed to refund only $120 of the total $150 fee. After pulling the resolution, and reconsidering the testimony presented, the council amended it to include the full refund, reintroduced the measure, and passed it with the aforementioned 4-1 vote.
Plumsted becomes the 16th town to pass such a measure, and this publication is aware of many more municipalities that have measures in the works for this year. We have documented the full list of towns on our tracker.
The movement to rebate carry permits came out of a collaboration between three gun rights groups: the New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and the National Rifle Association-Institute for Legislative Action. This first-of-its-kind movement has helped many private citizens bring similar measures to their town councils for consideration by providing a policy briefing document with both language that can be used in a bill and suggestions about how to communicate with elected officials.
