The Justice Department sued the city of Glendale, California, on November 9 over what it costs to get a concealed-carry permit there, Court Cast reports. The complaint says a first application now runs between $1,971 and $2,106, and a renewal every two years costs between $1,271 and $1,406. The previous fiscal year, the city charged $100 for an initial application and $25 to renew.

California Insider reports the city's base fee is $1,078 for a standard two-year license, with renewals at $826, according to the Glendale Police Department's website. Applicants also pay for fingerprinting, training and a psychological evaluation, which the department's lawsuit says pushes a first application to as much as $2,000. That figure leaves out service charges for fingerprinting. Renewals reach about $1,300 before rolling fees, new Live Scan fees and any psychological evaluation, and a renewed license is good for only two years, the complaint says.

The money is only part of the case. Court Cast reports Glendale also requires reference interviews, a psychological exam, an applicant interview and a review of the applicant's public statements, including social media posts. The department says the city has not published narrow, objective standards for those checks, and that the fees and screening together burden the right the Supreme Court recognized in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. The department says the fees and the discretionary screening violate the Second Amendment.

The city has not answered. California Insider reports Glendale did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. Court Cast notes the suit is a constitutional challenge, the city will get its chance to answer, and no court has yet granted the relief the department wants.

The complaint is not the first warning Glendale got. California Insider reports the California Rifle and Pistol Association raised concerns about the fees in an August 27 letter, sent through its lawyers to the police department's interim chief and the city attorney. The same outlet reports the department sued San Jose on September 16 over a firearm licensing fee of $1,591, which had risen by nearly $300 in two and a half years.