The Department of Justice opened an investigation Tuesday into the Philadelphia Police Department’s firearm permit revocation practices.
According to the DOJ, the investigation aims to determine whether the police department uses a vague “good cause” standard to cancel permits to carry legal firearms, which officials said is a violation of the Second Amendment.
“I have directed the Civil Rights Division, through our Second Amendment Section, to defend law-abiding citizens from local authorities who infringe the right to safely carry legal firearms,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Law-abiding Americans, regardless of where they live, should not have to worry that their city will revoke their means of self-defense.”
According to officials, in 2022, the Supreme Court held that permitting officials may not base licensing decisions merely on their personal discretion.
“Here, it is alleged that Philadelphia Police use just such a discretionary standard to improperly limit Second Amendment rights,” the DOJ wrote in a release.
NBC10 reached out to the Philadelphia Police Department for comment on this investigation. We are still waiting to hear back.