DOJ Sues Glendale, California Over Concealed Carry Permits Costing Up to $2,106, Psych Exams and Social Media Reviews

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

GLENDALE, CA — The Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Glendale on Monday, Nov. 9, over concealed carry permit costs and a permitting process it says violate the Second Amendment. United States v. City of Glendale, Case No. 2:26-cv-13098, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California as a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief. That is the kind of case that asks a judge to declare a policy unlawful and order it stopped.

Last month I covered the Civil Rights Division’s warning letter giving Glendale until Nov. 4 to come to the table or face a lawsuit. The complaint is now on file, and its fee math puts the cost of carrying in Glendale at about $54 a month.

Here are the numbers. According to the Justice Department’s announcement, the Glendale Police Department runs the city’s permitting. The total cost of an initial concealed carry application ranges from $1,971 to $2,106. A renewal, required every two years, runs $1,271 to $1,406. The department says that in the previous fiscal year, Glendale PD charged $100 for first-time applicants and $25 for renewals.

The complaint rounds those totals to about $2,000 for a new application and about $1,300 for a renewal. It says those figures still leave out provider “Rolling Fees” for fingerprinting and the fees tied to a Live Scan requirement that took effect Sept. 1, 2026. The renewal figure also assumes Glendale PD does not compel the applicant to undergo a psychological evaluation under California Penal Code § 26190(e)(2), which carries its own fee. Then the filing does the math: “In other words, Glendale charges its residents approximately $54.17 per month to exercise a fundamental constitutional right. In contrast, the Supreme Court held unconstitutional a payment of $1.50 to vote.”

Money is only half the case. The announcement says Glendale PD also requires applicant reference interviews, psychological exams, interviews of the applicant, and a review of public statements, including social media. It says the department does not publish any objective standards it applies to those checks.

That is where Bruen comes in. The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision struck down “may-issue” permitting, where officials decide who gets a permit based on their own judgment. It left room for “shall-issue” systems, where anyone who meets objective requirements gets a permit. The Justice Department argues Glendale’s regime lacks the “narrow, objective, and definite standards” that Bruen requires, and that its fees are an unreasonable barrier to exercising the right.

The complaint opens on that foundation. It quotes Heller for the point that the Second Amendment codified a pre-existing right. It quotes McDonald for the point that the right is fundamental. It quotes this year’s Wolford v. Lopez decision for the principle that the Second Amendment protects “the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives.”

“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting law abiding citizens’ right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Jesus Osete. “The City of Glendale cannot impose unreasonable fees and unbridled discretion that undermines that core constitutional right.”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California went further. “Exorbitant government fees that interfere with this right are abhorrent to our Constitution and our nation’s founding principles,” he said. “This Justice Department will not stand by and watch our freedoms be eroded.”

The complaint was brought by the Civil Rights Division’s Second Amendment Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. The announcement notes the Section enforces the Second Amendment, Executive Order 14206, and the Police Pattern or Practice Act, 34 U.S.C. § 12601. That is the law the October letter said the government would invoke. In plain terms, it lets the Justice Department sue a police department over a routine practice that violates people’s rights, rather than going after individual officers.

I spend most of my time arguing that training and mindset matter more than any piece of gear. In Glendale, by the government’s count, the bill for permission to carry runs about $2,000 before a resident has bought a holster, a box of practice ammunition, or the gun itself. Then it comes due again, at about $1,300, every two years.

More from USA Carry:

• ‘Tick Tock’: DOJ Gives Glendale, California Until Nov. 4 to Drop $2,000 Carry Permit Costs or Face a Federal Lawsuit – USA Carry
• Florida Democrat Sues Biden Admin Over Guns Rights for Medical Marijuana Users
• Marine Veteran Couple, GOA Sue Illinois Over Ban on Nonresident Concealed Carry Permits
• Restraining Order Expired in 2023, Still Disqualified: California Appeals Court Upholds Merced County Concealed Carry Permit Denial
• Now Everyone Can Pack in California — Out-of-Staters Finally Allowed to Apply for Concealed Carry Permits

These are allegations in a complaint, and the court has not ruled on any of them. Glendale will get its chance to answer.

I will continue tracking United States v. City of Glendale as it moves through the Central District of California.

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