DOJ Turns Its Sights on San Jose’s Sky-High Carry Permit Fees

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has fired a rhetorical shot across the bow of San Jose’s City Hall, warning officials that a lawsuit is coming if the city doesn’t take immediate steps to bring down the outrageously high fees the city charges residents applying for a concealed carry license. 

Constitutional rights aren’t for sale. Charging $1,600 to carry a firearm outside the home is unconscionable and unconstitutional. The @CivilRights Division is working hard to protect San Jose’s residents from Second Amendment violations! pic.twitter.com/fo6PWRZGcY

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) September 9, 2026

In her letter to Mayor Matt Mahan, SJPD Chief Paul Joseph, and City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood, Dhillon says the $1,591 the city charges may very well be the highest in the country, and is far more expensive than what other nearby locales impose. San Francisco, for instance, charges “only” $144. Santa Clara County, which is already facing a lawsuit over the cost to carry, still charges residents almost half of what San Jose does. 

That $1,591 application fee doesn’t cover the cost of training, the mandatory psych evaluation, or fingerprinting, which brings the total price tag for a San Jose carry permit to well over $2,000. 

As Dhillon reminded officials, the Supreme Court has held that even “shall issue” carry schemes can be unconstitutional when they result in needless delays or “exorbitant” fees. 

In the United States, keeping and bearing arms is not a luxury enjoyed by a privileged few. It is a right enjoyed by all “law-abiding, responsible citizens.” 

Dhillon instructed those officials to reach out to the head of the Civil Rights Division’s Second Amendment Section by 5:00 PM ET on September 15 if they would like to enter into a pre-suit settlement. Otherwise, DOJ will be initiating a lawsuit against the city and its police department over the policy and practice of charging residents an arm and a leg to exercise a fundamental civil right. 

Dhillon’s Civil Rights Division previously sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over its long delays in processing concealed carry permits, but that litigation was recently settled after the LASD began processing applications in a timely manner. It’s great to see that the Civil Rights Division and Second Amendment Section are paying attention to some of the other abuses taking place in the Golden State, and I hope that Dhillon and her team will also go after some of those jurisdictions that are charging less than San Jose, but still far more than what is reasonable. 

Berkeley, for instance, imposes a nearly $600 application fee. That’s less than half what San Jose charges, but it’s still more than ten times what I paid for my carry permit in Virginia. California law allows for licensing authorities to recoup what they claim is the actual cost of processing a carry permit application, but if the city (and state) are imposing so many requirements on applicants that it costs hundreds of dollars to approve or deny a permit, I’d say the supposedly “shall issue” system is being put to abusive ends and the rights of residents, particularly those on the lower end of the economic spectrum, are being irreparably harmed. 

Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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