Hartford — Brothers Ed, Rudy and Don Becker, white-haired veterans of three different branches of the military, drove to the state Capitol from New Hartford, Farmington and Plainville on Thursday to speak up about a proposed pistol permit fee increase they say infringes on their right to carry guns.

Like the other 100 or so gun rights supporters attending a public hearing of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, the Becker brothers chafed when Benjamin Barnes, secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management, said that the proposed fee increases are "reasonable."

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposes that the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection increase the state fees for renewal of pistol permits from $70 every five years to $300. First-time permit holders would pay $370, which includes a local fee of $70.

Malloy, who is looking for ways to close the state's $1.7 billion budget deficit, says the fee would generate an additional $9 million annually. Connecticut has 250,000 permit holders.

"You sit in these meetings, and all you hear is tax, tax, tax," said Ed Becker, whose cap indicated he served in the Navy. 

Don Becker, a retired sewer worker and former Marine, said he hasn't had the stomach for hunting since he returned from Vietnam, but that he has been around guns all his life and enjoys target shooting. He said he just wants the politicians to let law-abiding people continue to exercise their basic constitutional right, he said.

"The criminal has more of a protection than we do," he said. "Look how convenient it is for them to go to jail and get out early."

Scott Wilson, president of the Groton-based Connecticut Citizens Defense League, waited patiently with other CCDL members for their three minutes before the committee. The group's membership swelled to more than 27,000 people as gun rights came into focus following the Sandy Hook School shooting. Wilson couldn't remember the name of every person wearing one of CCDL's "Carry On" stickers on their lapel Thursday, but greeted them warmly.

"Over-charging individuals who are citizens of this state is no way to make up for past overspending habits," said Wilson's submitted testimony. "This state is already in a downward fiscal spiral, and outrageous increases associated with the quadrupling of permit renewals and the like will chase more people out of this state. I will ask this committee if you can all imagine what the uproar would be if this budget proposal called for more than the quadrupling of a driver's license, motor vehicle registration or any other fees?"

The gun rights advocates seemed encouraged when state Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, referenced court cases holding that a state can only impose fees up to the amount that it costs to administer the permitted program. He said the proposed fees far exceed that amount. 

"I suggest OPM take a look at this before we double down on this policy," Candelora said.

Speakers told the committee the proposed fees are "outrageous" and "exorbitant" and would result in excluding poorer citizens, including those who live in the state's most violent inner city neighborhoods, from being able to protect themselves.

Michele McBrien, 45, of Beacon Falls said she has been shooting since she was 5 years old and is a firearms safety instructor. She also is fully disabled, McBrien said, and it would really "mess with" her household finances if she and her husband both had to pay $300 to renew their permits.

"Do we pay for food that day or for our permits?" she said. "It doesn't cost them (the state) that much to process the permits. They're putting the money in the general fund and squandering it."

The hearing room on the second floor of the Legislative Office Building was filled to capacity at times Thursday morning, with educational cost sharing, hospital taxes and teacher's pensions also on the agenda.

Standing in the hallway, New Milford gun shop owner Victor Benson said it seems Malloy wants to "thin out" permit holders, but said business is "very good" at his small business, called the Freedom Shoppe.

"I say to people who don't like guns, 'Don't buy any,'" he said. "The bad guys do it the old-fashioned way: they steal them."

Christopher Dart of Middle Haddam, a licensed arborist, said he took the day off from his job because the fee issue is important.

"It seems so many of these laws coming out are against those who lawfully abide by the Constitution," he said. "Those who are doing crimes rarely have permits to carry."

Floyd Baranello, a 72-year-old retiree from South Windsor, called the proposed fees "usurious" as he pulled from his wallet the pistol permits he holds from five states, including Connecticut. His Utah permit, for which he pays $31 every five years, is honored or recognized by 36 other states, he said. He also has permits from Florida, which requires a $114 fee every seven years; Nevada, which is $60 every five years; and Pennsylvania, where he pays only $20 every five years for renewal.

Baranello said he also has a "beef" with a proposal that enables police officers to ask for the pistol permits of those they suspect of carrying guns.

"If I walk down the street with a crowbar and hammer, can a police officer detain me?" he said.

k.florin@theday.com