Continuing a spate of actions against deep blue jurisdictions that are making it tough on gun owners, the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division's Second Amendment Section has opened an investigation of the Philadelphia Police Department.
The probe began this week after a high-profile case, first reported by Axios, that saw five members of a socially active, legally armed citizens group receive letters informing them their gun permits had been terminated.
"It is a violation of the Second Amendment for government officials to use vague, personal discretion when determining whether to issue or revoke permits to carry firearms," noted the Justice Department in a statement released by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon.
An official letter sent to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, a member of the Bloomberg-backed Mayors Against Illegal Guns gun control group, Dhillon advised, "The Department will be assessing law enforcement practices under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution."
The Second Amendment section of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, formed last year, has already sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over stalled concealed carry permits, as well as the Virgin Islands Police Department for unconstitutionally denying gun permits, and has sided with 26 states in arguing that California's bullet control law violates the Second Amendment.
Dhillion has also cautioned the Commonwealth of Virginia to expect a DOJ-backed legal challenge to a looming ban on popular semi-automatic firearms in that state, and last month brought suit against Washington D.C.'s arbitrary suppressor ban.
"Law-abiding Americans, regardless of where they live, should not have to worry that their city will revoke their means of self-defense," said Dhillon of the Philly investigation.
Banner image: An EAA Windicator .357 Magnum 2-inch revolver on the range. A solid carry choice. K-frame pattern speed loader and block by 5 Star. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
