Posted on 05/17/2009 8:16:03 AM PDT by aimhigh
Florida, USA - -(AmmoLand.com)- When government takes money from citizens for general use by government, IT’S A TAX.
When government confiscates user fees from trust funds intended to be used to administer specific programs and converts it to government use for other purposes, IT’S A TAX.
When government leaders claim to oppose tax increases and promise not to create new taxes but then raid trust funds, they have deceived you because THEY HAVE CREATED A NEW TAX.
In a last minute sneak attack on gun owners, the Florida Legislature raided the concealed weapons and firearms licensing trust fund and CREATED A TAX ON THE EXERCISE OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
"What part of 'shall not be infringed' do they NOT understand?"
I do not know WHY don’t you ask the NRA??
NRA impeding passage of concealed carry? (Illinois)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2251500/posts?page=13
How do we get this post on the Banglist?
add banglist to the keywords
So the FL goobermint 'raided' the Division of Licensing Concealed Weapons and Firearm Trust Fund money. How is that a tax on 'imposed on Second Amendment Rights' and FL gun owners? Unless additional money is 'taken from Gun Owners' I don't see any 'tax'.
To me that's like the states 'raiding' the Lottery money that was supposed to go to schools. Taking that money for the General Fund isn't a tax on Gamblers, or Schools Children.
Why should We the People be denied a speedy trial by having to wait YEARS for an "S"election, or in the case of the SC NEVER?
Re: “I don’t understand this?”
The linked article is a little convoluted, but the meat of it is that it is an end run around the law by the Florida legislature. (These days government trying to avoid being subject to law is getting pretty common)
THE POINT: Florida like other states is experiencing a boom in concealed weapon permits. The fees are supposed to provide for the operation of the system. By sucking the money out of the trust fund, by law supposed to be used to administer the program, the antis in the legislature prevent expansion of staff to meet the demand. If administered honestly, more applicants mean more fees, thereby funding the increased cost.
I had a Florida CWP (Florida is a concealed “weapon” license rather than just a concealed “handgun” license) before my home state got CHL. I got it not long after the law went into effect in Florida. The licensing process was efficient and although I was “out of state” and probably that caused a bit more effort in the background check, I got the permit well within the 90 days.
Texas also experienced a dramatic surge in applications in recent months (i.e., after it became apparent that we might soon have a very much more anti-liberty federal government). The Texas response was to increase the staff. There was a period of a few months during 2008 when Texas failed to meet the deadline for new licenses, but the agency publicly admitted it, promised to fix it as quickly as possible, and even set up a link to track the progress of individual applications. They kept their word and the problem went away.
To better understand it, suppose Florida closed down schools and closed highways needing repairs and used the school and highway funds to provide free concealed weapons permits. The legislature would catch hell from the public.
This EXACTLY the same thing, except the shoe is on the other foot.
When the original concealed carry law was passed here in Florida, the CCW fee was supposed to cover only the actual administrative costs involved in running the program. That was and is the law as passed then. This way the taxpayers of Florida were not spending a dime of their money for the CCW program.
By using the money that we CCW holders pay in application and renewal fees for other purposes that taxpayers normally pay for, we are now in essence funding other programs that taxpayer money should be used for. Meanwhile, as stated in the article, the program is understaffed and falling behind in its obligations to CCW applicants due to funds being allocated elsewhere.
I don't think so.
Oops, my mistake, you can apply as non-resident
Why don’t you just get a Texas license?
Good luck with that.
What is the difference between poll taxes and fees on secondm amendment activity?
Well, it is delaying people getting their gun permits if the legislature takes money from the department that issues the permits so the department cannot do its work. From what I have heard about the Florida legislature, it seems both Democrats and Republicans have been irresponsible, taking money meant for one thing and using it to fill gaps somewhere else. One important Republican state senator was recently inticted for using public funds for his own private benefit. Florida may be a low-tax version of California.
I think it was $117 several years ago for out-of-state applicants. Plus you have to submit a fingerprint card which cost me $20 to have my local PD prepare. As ex-military I was able to supply a copy of my DD-214 to satisfy the training requirement.
I think the renewal will be slightly less.
Florida maintains a web site on which you can request that they send you the application packet. Be sure to use the fingerprint card they supply. I got a spare card in case the PD spoiled one so that I was sure to get it done in one trip.
I seem to recall that it is the Florida Department of Agriculture that handles the permits. I think this was intentional to keep the process apolitical.
I paid Florida $117 for my permit. If even a penny of that is used for something other than supplying the permit, then that is a tax.
Such fees will soon be a thing of the past due to a proper reading of Heller. People in poverty cannot be expected to pay a fee to exercise a right. Once the courts deny the state the power to tax such a fundamental right, the requirements for a permit will fade away. There's no way that even anti-gun tax-payers are going to spend THEIR money on this anti-gun nonsense.
Since they’ve turned it into a tax, I wonder if it’s now deductible on Federal taxes.
Thanks for the info.
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