License Fee Bill Update - 1/30/08

GOAL's license fee bill “An Act to End the Taxation of Civil Rights” has been given a Docket Number of H4777. The House of Representatives ordered the bill the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. In order for the bill to receive a bill number and actually go to the Committee the Senate must concur.

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License Fee Bill Update

Today Representative George Peterson officially filed GOAL's bill "An Act to End the Taxation of Civil Rights." We are pleased to announce that the bill received several cosponsors.

Senator Stephen Brewer

Senator Michael Knapik

Representative Anne Gobi

Representative Christine Canavan

Representative Richard Ross

Representative Donald Humason

Representative Geoffrey Hall

Representative James Vallee

The bill does not yet have a number attached to it. GOAL will post more information as it is available.

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GOAL Files Bill to do Away with License Fees

Gun Owners’ Action League is filing a new bill to do away with the fees associated with Firearm Identification Cards and Licenses to Carry Firearms. This new bill, “An Act to End the Taxation of Civil Rights” is being filed on behalf of GOAL by State Representative George Peterson. The bill states that “…no fees, taxes or other financial requirements placed on any application or card processed or issued…”

“It is bad enough that we are required to pay a tax on our civil right to own a firearm, but to have to pay for a licensing system that is discriminatory, unresponsive to the needs of license holders and in some cases corrupt is simply too much to ask of lawful citizens.” said Jim Wallace Executive Director of Gun Owners’ Action League “Since the state is clearly unwilling to take responsibility for this contemptible system and it can’t demonstrate any public safety benefits to the licensing process, then we should not be forced to pay for it. In fact, if the general public falsely “feels” safer by requiring us to have licenses then they should pay for it.”

GOAL has sent the following letter to the Massachusetts legislators looking for their support of this measure.

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December 13, 2007

Dear Legislator,

For many years, Gun Owners’ Action League has been trying to reform our state’s licensing system to make it just and fair to gun owners. The legislature has amended the gun laws in 38 places in the last ten years, but serious reform of the actual licensing process has never been accomplished.

A few years ago the Firearms Record Bureau wasted millions of dollars creating the Massachusetts Instant Records Check system. This system was created and implemented with no input from the legislature or gun owners and has turned out to be an enormous waste of resources.

Additionally, there have been constant problems with local licensing authorities making up their own licensing procedures. At the local level our members face unreasonable delays, illegal additional requirements, arbitrary denials and restrictions, etc. Many gun owners have arbitrary restrictions placed on their licenses that are not explained what they mean or why they were applied to the license. Yet the state continues to tell our members that it has no control over its licensing agents even when the law is being clearly violated.

The laws and regulations in the state are so complicated that licensees many times have no knowledge of what they can or can’t do with a particular license. When they contact the state for help, they are told to hire an attorney to interpret laws for them. If they do have an idea of  what they can legally purchase and own, they are often told by licensed dealers that they can’t buy it because one agency says it is alright to own, but another one claims it is not.

The final straw was the implementation of the Chapter 177 of the Acts of 2006. This was a unanimously supported effort in the legislature to create a Formal Target Shooters Roster of firearms that could be legally purchased for competition. It took over a year to implement the regulations to create the roster. The regulatory process is such a sham that currently only two firearms have made the roster.

Since it is clear the state has no intention of reforming this contemptible licensing process, Gun Owners’ Action League has filed “An Act To End the Taxation of Civil Rights” (see enclosed copy). There is no reason why lawful citizens should be forced to pay for exercising their civil rights. It is a further insult when the system they are forced to pay for was clearly designed to spite them. We would ask for your support of this measure by contacting the sponsor, Rep. George Peterson, by December 28, 2007 and signing on as a co-sponsor.

Sincerely,

James L. Wallace

Executive Director

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An Act to End the Taxation of Civil Rights

Whereas the Commonwealth should not levy taxes or fees on any citizen wishing to practice their civil rights; and

Whereas citizens who are being forced to pay fees for licenses and cards are not receiving any services in return for those fees; and

Whereas the Commonwealth has wasted millions of dollars in creating a licensing system that was never needed; and

Whereas the Commonwealth cannot demonstrate any increased public safety as a result of the licensing of civil rights; and

Whereas the Commonwealth continues to ignore the unlawful and discriminatory acts of its licensing agents;

Now we therefore do propose the following An Act to End the Taxation of Civil Rights

Section 1. Section 129B of Chapter 140 is hereby amended by striking paragraph (9A) in its entirety and replacing it with the following: - “(9A) There shall be no fees, taxes or other financial requirements placed on any application or card processed or issued under this section.

Section 2. Section 129B of Chapter 140 is hereby amended by striking paragraph (9B) in its entirety.

Section 3. Section 131 of Chapter 140 is hereby amended by striking paragraph (i) in its entirety and replacing it with the following: - A license to carry or possess firearms shall be valid, unless revoked or suspended, for a period of not more than 6 years from the date of issue and shall expire on the anniversary of the licensee’s date of birth occurring not less than 5 years but not more than 6 years from the date of issue, except that if the licensee applied for renewal before the license expired, the license shall remain valid for a period of 90 days beyond the stated expiration date on the license, unless the application for renewal is denied. Any renewal thereof shall expire on the anniversary of the licensee’s date of birth occurring not less than 5 years but not more than 6 years from the effective date of such license. Any license issued to an applicant born on February 29 shall expire on March 1. There shall be no fees, taxes or other financial requirements placed on any application or license processed or issued under this section.