The DOJ is investigating Pennsauken over gun permitting delays, claiming it could be infringing on Second Amendment
The Justice Department announced the investigation into alleged Second Amendment right violations on Wednesday.
The Department of Justice is investigating Pennsauken Township to determine whether firearm permitting delays within the police department have infringed on residents’ Second Amendment right to bear arms.
“It is a violation of the Second Amendment for government officials to delay issuing permits to purchase or carry firearms,” the federal department said in a news release announcing the investigation Wednesday.
The statement referenced a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that determined that “a state’s permitting process is put toward ‘abusive ends’ when ‘lengthy wait times in processing license applications or exorbitant fees deny ordinary citizens their right to public carry.’”
“Here, it is alleged that Pennsauken, through the Pennsauken Township Police Department, uses just such ‘abusive ends’ to improperly limit Second Amendment rights,” the department said.
Both the Department of Justice and Pennsauken Township declined to comment Wednesday afternoon, citing the ongoing investigation.
In New Jersey, all firearm applications are handled by the applicant’s local police department.
Pennsauken residents can submit a firearm application on the township website through New Jersey’s Firearms Application and Registration System (FARS).
The process requires that anyone seeking a firearm permit fill out a digital application, provide a photograph, and name two character references who have known the applicant for two years and do not reside in the same household.
Within 90 days of submitting an application, the applicant must pay the necessary fees and get fingerprinted to initiate a background check.
The entire firearm permitting process typically takes between four to six weeks, if no issues arise during the interview, according to the township.
This is not the first time Pennsauken has faced questions about its firearm permitting process.
In 2024, the Coalition of New Jersey Firearm Owners, Gun Owners of America, and the Gun Owners Foundation joined Pennsauken resident Christian Benton in a federal lawsuit against the state’s Attorney General and Pennsauken Township Police Chief Phil Olivo.
The lawsuit alleges that New Jersey’s “lengthy and arduous” permitting process and the state law limiting handgun purchases to one per month amounts to a violation of the Second Amendment, according to the filing.
Last year, a judge dismissed the claims related to processing delays after saying in a hearing that there was a “lack of constitutional injury.”
“Mr. Benton, as well as the other individuals who information has been provided for, have all sought and received firearms permits,” according to the ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Karen Williams. “They are all, as this Court can glean from what is before it, currently exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.”
The lawsuit, now limited to just the challenge against the state’s one-gun-per-month law, is still working its way through the courts.
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