With control of every branch of the federal government, Republicans have brought the assault on Second Amendment rights to a full stop at the national level. However, the struggle continues in state legislatures across the country. A particularly nefarious tactic is on full display in the liberal state of Connecticut, where lawmakers on Wednesday approved a budget-balancing measure which uses firearm and ammunition permit fees to fund the general operations of the state. This move is flagrantly unconstitutional on Governor Malloy’s part in addition to being a thinly veiled attack on Connecticut gun owners.
While Connecticut is certainly no Illinois when it comes to their fiscal house, they are experiencing significant struggles. The budget stalemate there has just led to a credit rating downgrade to one step above junk – the lowest ever for any state. Connecticut, meanwhile, is facing a $317 million deficit for the current fiscal year, and lawmakers are scrambling to patch the hole. Most of the heavy lifting will come through looting the rainy-day fund, drawing it down from the current $235.6 million to just $29.2 million. However, as part of the package to close the remaining $81.4 million, the state will turn to two funds which hold firearm and ammunition permit fees. The total they will raise from transferring some of the surpluses to the general fund? A measly $300,000. Why even bother with such a paltry amount, when the action itself is unconstitutional? Put simply, because it will help in the fight against gun owners.
Everyone knows that once something is enshrined into law, it is exponentially harder to remove. Both taxes and spending which have been on the books in previous years are notoriously resilient to repeal efforts. For proof, look no further than the Obamacare revenues and outlays. What did not even exist eight years ago is now something that over half of Americans cannot fathom living 
without, according to recent polling. If Governor Malloy can make permit fees an integral part of state funding, it will never go back to the way it was before, when they were used purely to cover the costs of the permitting process.
Thanks to Murdock v. Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court has established that “A State may not impose a charge for the enjoyment of a right granted by the Federal Constitution.” How, then, have so many jurisdictions successfully imposed fees on things like permits to march or to own a firearm? These have been justified by strictly applying the revenue from the fee to fund the cost of providing the license. According to an article in CT News Junkie, “Connecticut House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said the constitutionality “is not in doubt,” because it takes more than the $550,000 to run the firearm program in the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.” However, this argument instantly disintegrates when you realize that the funds being used are only there because they are surplus funds that were more than what it cost to run that department. Additionally, in the proposed 2018 budget, the line item for Board of Firearms Permit Examiners amounts to only $123,000 as the actual amount spent in FY2016. The nail in the coffin? In 2012, Connecticut raised over $2 million from permit fees. Sorry, Congressman Ritter, but you are completely full of it.
Governor Malloy has made no secret of the fact that he wants to raise the fee for pistol permits. In February of this year, he proposed more than quadrupling the fee from its current $70 to $300. While unsuccessful, the fact that he has now made these fees an essential part of a balanced budget means that the increase will be that much easier to sell in the future to the spineless lawmakers in the state legislature. In the previously mentioned budget, the proposed revenue to be raised by increased gun permit fees amounts to a staggering $9 million per year or nearly half of the new revenue from increased taxes of all types.
While citizens outside of The Constitution State may not have to worry about their constitutional rights being slowly encroached by slimy accounting gimmicks, the need to remain vigilant is as strong as ever. Leftists have made it clear that if they cannot be victorious in their legislation, they will happily turn to any and all means available to infringe on the right of Americans to keep and bear arms. Let Connecticut serve as a cautionary tale, for when the fees inevitably rise in that state, it may cost more to ask the state permission to buy a firearm than the weapon itself.
