DOJ Sues Glendale, California, Over $1,078 Carry Permits and Psych Exams
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division sued Glendale, California, on Second Amendment grounds. The target is a $1,078 concealed carry fee, plus a psychological exam that every applicant must pay for. Acting Assistant Attorney General Jesus Osete and the division's Second Amendment Section filed the complaint. It calls Glendale's permitting scheme a pattern and practice that strips residents of a fundamental right. The suit also targets how the Glendale Police Department enforces those rules. Osete is continuing the push that Harmeet K. Dhillon started at the division, even though she no longer leads it.
Key Details
The complaint leans hardest on the fee and the psych evaluation, but it lists several other problems:
- Fee: Applicants pay $1,078. DOJ calls this the primary basis for the suit.
- Psychological exam: Every applicant must undergo one. Applicants pay for it, and the cost can reach $500.
- Reference checks: Glendale requires three character references.
- Social media review: The city vets applicants' online presence.
- Residency: Applicants must live in Glendale.
- Policy citations: Glendale PD Policy § 208.4.1(5) requires testing as defined in Cal. Pen. Code § 26190. Policy § 208.3(i) bars applicants with any psychological condition that makes them unsuitable for a CCW license.
- Renewals: State law allows renewal psych testing only with "compelling evidence of a public safety concern." DOJ says Glendale applies it to all renewal applicants.
- Comparison: DOJ notes California does not require a psych evaluation to buy a firearm. It imposes one only on people who want to carry for self-defense.
Background
The Supreme Court decided New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen in 2022. The Court struck New York's "proper cause" requirement and set a test: Government must show that a gun regulation fits within the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. Justice Kavanaugh's concurrence in that case made clear that shall-issue licensing remains permissible. Those licensing schemes must rest on objective criteria, though. A licensing officer cannot wield open-ended discretion.
The federal government's authority in this suit traces to 34 U.S.C. § 12601. Congress wrote that statute to let the Attorney General sue over a pattern or practice of law enforcement conduct that violates constitutional rights. DOJ has already tested the reach of that statute. A federal judge recently dismissed the department's suit against Montgomery County, Maryland, finding the agency exceeded its authority under Section 12601. That ruling sets the backdrop for Glendale. DOJ must show it can use the same statute against a city's permitting practices.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Californians who carry, or want to, feel the impact first. A $1,078 fee sits far above what most applicants pay in shall-issue states. A separate $500 psych evaluation stacks on top of it. An applicant can spend more than $1,500 before a licensing officer makes a decision. Renewal holders face the same exam under Glendale's blanket policy, even though state law limits it to cases with specific public safety evidence.
The residency rule also affects people who work in Glendale but live elsewhere, and people who move. Reference checks and social media reviews add subjective judgment at every step. A reviewer who dislikes an applicant's posts holds a lever that no statute gives them.
If you live or work in Glendale, keep every receipt. Document every fee, every appointment, and every denial in writing. Request the written criteria the department uses. If you apply, know that the policy language itself is now the subject of federal litigation. Watch the docket. Neighboring California jurisdictions with similar policies could see the same arguments.
DownRange Analysis
The psych evaluation is the strongest target in this complaint. Bruen requires a historical analogue, and DOJ says none exists for a mandatory mental health exam before carrying. Any such analogue would have to survive scrutiny, and the city has few obvious candidates. The open-ended discretion inside the psych review also looks like the may-issue problem Bruen condemned.
The fee question is messier. Bruen does not directly answer whether a licensing fee can be unconstitutionally high, and courts have split on how much a fee can cost before it becomes a burden. A $1,078 charge will draw a sharp reaction from any judge who reads the record.
The bigger risk for DOJ is procedural. Montgomery County already showed that Section 12601 has limits. Osete's team has to prove a pattern and practice by Glendale police, not just bad policy written by the council. Expect Glendale to fight standing and scope first. For gun owners, the practical move is simple: document everything, file complaints in writing, and support state and local groups already fighting these fees.
