DOJ Warns It Will Sue California City Over $2,000 Carry Permit Fees

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has sent a letter to the City of Glendale, California, regarding its expensive concealed firearm carry permit application fees, warning that a lawsuit would be filed if the fees are not withdrawn.

Currently, a standard two-year concealed carry weapon (CCW) license for Glendale residents costs $1,078 in initial fees, with renewals costing $826, according to the Glendale Police Department. There are also additional fees, such as for fingerprinting, psychological evaluation, and training.

In the letter to city officials, Harmeet K. Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said that the initial fee was recently raised from just $100, while the renewal fee was raised from $50.

“When all fees and costs are aggregated, an initial license costs approximately $2,000, and a renewal license costs approximately $1,300,” Dhillon said. “This is one of the most expensive CCW application schemes in the nation.”

Citing the American citizen’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms, and a Supreme Court ruling regarding the permissible level of fees for firearm licensing, Dhillon said that Glendale officials will be given time till Nov. 4 to express their interest in entering into a pre-suit settlement negotiation.

The DOJ has put forth four conditions as a minimum requirement for avoiding the lawsuit.

The conditions are that the city must immediately cease the enforcement of the higher fees, stop the implementation of any “may-issue” processes, acknowledge that the high fees and “may-issue” policies are unconstitutional, and enter into a court-enforceable consent degree that will prohibit the city from violating the constitutional rights of its citizens.

A “may-issue” regime refers to gun laws in a jurisdiction under which even if a person satisfies all the objective requirements for the permit, the authorities can still decide not issue a license.

In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, the Supreme Court noted that while governments can implement concealed carry licensing rules, these policies must not be abusive, such as by imposing exorbitant fees that deny ordinary citizens their right to publicly carry guns.

In addition to high fees, some of Glendale’s policies transform the concealed carry licensing process into a “may-issue” scheme prohibited by the court in this case, the letter said.

Dhillon said she authorized filing a complaint against the city, alleging that Glendale’s concealed carry application scheme denies ordinary citizens their Second Amendment right to public carry, and that the Glendale Police Department’s implementation of such policies is unlawful.

The Epoch Times reached out to the City of Glendale for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

The issue of high concealed carry fees was highlighted by the California Rifle and Pistol Association in an Aug. 27 letter sent to the Glendale Police Department interim chief and the city attorney.

In the letter, the association pointed to other jurisdictions within California that charge lower concealed carry fees, such as Los Angeles’ $216 fee and Orange County’s $300 fee.

“A fee of $1,078 for new applications and $828 for renewals bears no plausible relationship to the actual and reasonable administrative costs of processing a CCW application, conducting a background investigation, and issuing a license,” the letter states.

Last month, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the city of San Jose in the state over its nearly $1,600 firearm licensing fee.

“You don’t need a law degree to recognize that charging a fee several times higher than the cost of the firearm itself is illogical, and an unconstitutional attempt to impede Americans’ Second Amendment rights,” Dhillon said.