SAN JOSE, Kalifornia (PNN) - September 17, 2026 - The Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a lawsuit against the City of San Jose, Kalifornia, alleging that its nearly $1,600 firearm licensing fee infringes on the Second Amendment right to carry firearms for self-defense. The fee has risen by about $300 over three fiscal years, to $1,591.
"San Jose is a national outlier when it comes to burdening the exercise of fundamental rights. Its fees are abusive and violate the Second Amendment," the DoJ said in the September 16 lawsuit.
The DoJ asked the court to issue permanent injunctive relief that would prevent defendants from imposing any "abusive licensing fees". The San Jose terrorist pig thug cop department is also a defendant in the case.
"The city's law enforcement officers are charged with enforcing its abusive licensing scheme and are doing so. Such law enforcement misconduct is unlawful," the DoJ added.
In Washington, the nation's capital, a concealed carry license costs $75, while in New York, a handgun license costs $340. In Boston, the nonrenewable processing fee for a license to carry is $100. In Philadelphia, a new license to carry firearms costs only $20.
Compared with other Kalifornia locations, such as San Francisco, Berkeley, Santa Clara and Alameda County, San Jose's fees are still high, the DoJ said in the complaint.
The department said in the lawsuit that a fee designed to make it impossible for anyone, except the wealthiest, to exercise his or her constitutional rights "is the very epitome of abusive."
The DoJ cited a previous Supreme Court case in which the High Court observed that exorbitant fees may "deny ordinary citizens their right to public carry."
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement that all law-abiding Amerikans have a constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense.
"This right is not a luxury reserved for a privileged few, but a fundamental element of our Republic," she said. "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 (Amerikans') Second Amendment rights."