Of course the $$$ the permits cost play a part, as they do in almost all dealings with the state, and permits are just one more way to put the squeeze on our billfolds. Here in GA it cost me approximately $70 + or - for a 4 year permit, I don't remember exactly.
OK, you might say that's a small price to pay for the protection it affords myself and my wife. But if I look at it that way then all my other Constitutionally guaranteed rights can also be sold to me rather having been bought and paid for in the blood of the Founding Father's who gave us those guarantees over 2 centuries ago.
Just my take on the matter, others may see it differently and that's another right the state may some day decide to sell rather than acknowledge as a basic human right. I don't have to pay for the right to speak my mind, why do I have to pay to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights?
It’s a little higher here in TX, but I see it this way: the $70 (for the FBI background check) means I no longer have to submit to a NICS check when I buy a firearm.
That saves me time, and over 4 years, that’s only about $1.50 / month.
“There’s no valid reason for carry permits, people who don’t qualify because they broke a law somewhere aren’t going to be concerned about breaking another law. Such laws only make it more difficult for those who don’t make a habit of breaking laws reluctant to go through what is a usually lengthy investigation in order to qualify for a Constitutionally guaranteed right.”
The valid reason is that it offers us a stepping stone to get our rights back. We went from 1 State with constitutional carry in 1994 to five with constitutional carry today, and bills passing legislatures in at least 4 other states as we debate this.
We have not been able to get back everything in one leap, so we have to do it incrementally.
It's not just the money. The state is requiring you to obtain a LICENSE to exercise one of your God given, natural rights.
What's next? A government license to observe your religion?