The Justice Department has opened a Second Amendment investigation into Pennsauken, New Jersey, over claims the township police department drags out firearm permit approvals. The department announced the probe Wednesday.
Breitbart News first reported the announcement. The Civil Rights Division says it will look at whether the Pennsauken Township Police Department’s permitting system denies residents their right to bear arms through long, unjust delays.
What the Justice Department said
“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,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in the department’s release. “Our investigation aims to discover if allegations of unconstitutional delays in firearm permitting are true, and if so, to fix it.”
The department said in its release that the probe does not support any armed obstruction of federal or local law enforcement. DOJ officials told the Daily Caller News Foundation they have reached no conclusions and will look for a pattern or practice of rights violations.
What to know
- Who: The Justice Department Civil Rights Division’s Second Amendment Section.
- Target: The permitting system run by the Pennsauken Township Police Department in Camden County, N.J.
- Legal basis: The 2022 Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which said long waits or steep fees can deny ordinary citizens the right to carry.
- Complaints: DOJ is taking reports from anyone who believes their gun rights are being infringed through its Second Amendment Section website.
Why it matters
The department says it violates the Second Amendment for officials to delay permits to buy or carry firearms. The township has not publicly responded to the investigation in the coverage reviewed by iSEARK.com.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Justice: Justice Department Opens Investigation of Pennsauken, New Jersey’s Allegedly Unconstitutional Permit Delays, Oct. 14, 2026.
- Breitbart News: Trump DOJ Investigates New Jersey Town for Allegations of ‘Egregious,’ ‘Unjust Delays’ Issuing Gun Licenses, Oct. 14, 2026.
- Daily Caller News Foundation: DOJ comments on the Pennsauken probe, Oct. 14, 2026.
File photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (Harmeet Dhillon speaking at a 2021 event in Texas).
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