The Department of Justice (DOJ) just carried through on its threat to take San Jose officials to court over the city’s ridiculous and highest-in-the-nation $1,600 firearm carry license fee. The deadline passed and the federal lawsuit now moves forward.
It is impossible in 2026 to even conceive of such an impediment enforced against good Americans exercising any other enumerated right.
The DOJ’s stance is clear: The Second Amendment is not a second-class right. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon affirmed her agency will not idly stand by and watch local and state governments effectively deny the right to keep and bear arms to all but those who can afford it.
The Bill of Rights does not apply only to the highest bidder
Dhillon minced no words in slamming the city for erecting a towering financial barrier around a constitutional right that the wealthy can easily overcome, but not the vast majority.
“All law-abiding Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense,” the AAG said. “This right is not a luxury reserved for a privileged few, but a fundamental element of our republic. 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.”
As the National Rifle Association (NRA) correctly noted, 2022’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen firmly reestablished the people’s right to carry firearms away from the home for self-defense lawfully.
San Jose’s excuse for carry fee is nothing short of laughable
Imposing such a fee on exercising this freedom is beyond the pale. And how do San Jose authorities defend this injustice?
They feebly claim that $1,600 is needed to cover the administrative costs of the licensing program. What a sad joke. The NRA observed that even in tax- and regulation-overburdened California, this charge is simply “implausible.”
No, the intent is clear. Price the right to defend oneself and loved ones much higher than rank-and-file Americans can afford, the Second Amendment be damned.
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