DOJ Sues San Jose Over the Nation’s Highest CCW Fee — Nearly $1,600 to Apply

San Jose charges about $1,591 for a concealed-carry permit, the most in the nation. On September 16, 2026 the Justice Department sued the city and its police department, saying that fee is so high it denies ordinary Californians their right to carry under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.

Sources checked September 22, 2026. Educational information only, not legal advice.

What changed	DOJ filed suit against San Jose and the San Jose Police Department over the city’s roughly $1,591 concealed-carry application fee, calling it the highest in the nation and constitutionally unreasonable.
Effective	Suit filed September 16, 2026; no ruling yet. The fee itself still stands.
Applies to	San Jose residents and applicants who must pay the fee; potentially other high-fee California jurisdictions by analogy.
Statutory basis	Complaint: 34 U.S.C. § 12601 (Police Pattern or Practice Act), Second and Fourteenth Amendment claims. Case No. 5:26-cv-10508, N.D. Cal.

What happened

On September 16, 2026 the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed suit against the City of San Jose and the San Jose Police Department for charging what DOJ calls an uncon‑stionable fee to exercise the right to carry. Press release No. 26‑1069 states that at nearly $1,600 per license San Jose’s application fee “towers over” those of the country’s biggest cities, which DOJ notes charge far less: New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Chicago each charge “a small fraction” of San Jose’s fee.

The complaint, United States v. City of San Jose, et al., No. 5:26‑cv‑10508 (N.D. Cal., filed 9/16/26), pleads that the San Jose Police Department’s fee policy is a “pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers” that, in effect, “is to deprive the citizens of San Jose of their rights guaranteed by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.” The government seeks permanent injunctive relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65 to enjoin the city from charging the abusive fee. The complaint was filed by the Civil Rights Division’s Second Amendment Section under 34 U.S.C. § 12601 (the Police Pattern or Practice Act).

What it means for you

San Jose is the highest-fee jurisdiction a California applicant can face: a fee near $1,591, with the city inside that figure at about $1,400. If the fee was already pushing some applications toward a different city, this case is the direct federal challenge to that practice. If the court agrees, San Jose (and possibly other high-fee localities) would have to bring the fee down.

The practical effect on you right now: nothing has changed. The fee still stands, and the case is in early stages — a complaint only, no ruling. For everyone else in California, the suit is a signal that DOJ is treating high permit fees as a constitutional problem under United States v. City of San Jose, and may pursue other jurisdictions next. If you apply in a high-fee county, keep budgeting for it today. Watch for a ruling.

The official source