DOJ Suit Says Glendale’s $2,000 Carry Permit Fees Violate Second Amendment

The Justice Department sued Glendale, California on November 9, 2026, arguing the city's concealed carry permit process is so expensive and invasive it violates the Second Amendment.

Snapshot

The DOJ's Civil Rights Division filed suit in the Central District of California, alleging Glendale's carry license fees can run as high as $2,000 once application costs, fingerprinting, training, and a psychological exam are added up. The complaint argues the city's screening process effectively turns California's shall-issue law into a may-issue system.

Key points

• The cost: DOJ says a new applicant pays a $1,078 city fee plus fingerprinting, a $300-$435 training class, and a roughly $500 psych evaluation, totaling near $2,000; renewals run about $1,300 every two years.
• The legal theory: The complaint leans on Bruen footnote 9, which warned that "exorbitant fees" can turn a shall-issue scheme abusive, and claims Glendale charges the highest fees in the country.
• The screening fight: DOJ targets reference checks, social media reviews, and a psych exam it says is applied as a blanket requirement rather than for cases with "compelling evidence" of a safety concern, as state law requires.
• The remedy sought: DOJ wants an injunction plus notice letters sent to everyone previously denied, inviting them to reapply, and destruction of psych and social media records collected without separate lawful purpose.
• The pattern: The case follows a settlement with the LA County Sheriff's Department and a similar action against San Jose, both brought under the same pattern-or-practice statute.

Quick take

This is still an allegation, not a ruling, and Glendale hasn't answered in court yet. But the dollar figure is the kind of detail that sticks: a right that costs real money every two years to renew isn't being treated the same as other rights, which is exactly the comparison DOJ draws to a struck-down poll tax. Worth watching how a federal judge weighs fee amounts against Bruen's warning on abusive licensing schemes.

Read the full story: ammoland.com