The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Pennsauken Township, examining whether local officials have unlawfully delayed residents seeking firearm permits.
In a press release issued Wednesday, the DOJ said the inquiry will determine “whether Pennsauken, New Jersey deprives citizens of their right to bear arms” through “delays in issuing firearm licenses.” The agency said its focus is on the permitting system run by the Pennsauken Township Police Department.
“The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear firearms — including the right to carry firearms,” the DOJ said in its announcement.
Federal officials cited the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, which found that a state’s permitting process can be used toward “abusive ends” when “lengthy wait times in processing license applications or exorbitant fees deny ordinary citizens their right to public carry.”
“It is a violation of the Second Amendment for government officials to delay issuing permits to purchase or carry firearms,” the DOJ stated.
“I have directed the Civil Rights Division, through our Second Amendment Section, to defend law-abiding citizens from local authorities who infringe on the right to safely carry legal firearms. Our investigation aims to discover if allegations of unconstitutional delays in firearm permitting are true, and if so, to fix it,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
The DOJ’s announcement did not detail the specific allegations that prompted the review, nor did it specify a timeline for the investigation’s completion. Pennsauken Township, located in Camden County, has not issued a public response to the DOJ’s announcement as of this writing.
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