Court upholds NYS gun licensing fee
The United States 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that New York’s gun permit fee does not violate the United States Constitution.
The New York State Rife and Pistol Association, along with a Second Amendment rights group and a handful of gun owners, filed the suit, arguing that NY’s permit law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Second Amendment by allowing New York City and Nassau County to charge a higher handgun licensing fee than other jurisdictions in New York State.
The New York Penal Law requires all lawful gun owners to obtain a license for the possession of a firearm. The relevant statute sets the license fee between $3 and $10, but also allows the New York City and Nassau County to set fees that falls outside of this range. At present, it costs a New York City gun owner $340 for a three-year possession. The plaintiffs argue that it is unfair, and thus unequal, to further a structure allowing New York City and Nassau County to charge higher gun license fees and that the fee itself is a burden on an individual’s right to own a gun.