With the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division casting a critical eye on the untimely delays and excessive fees for carry licenses in Los Angeles County, there are high hopes in the 2A community that this is just the beginning of a sustained effort to combat the civil rights violations imposed by anti-2A regimes across the country. 

There's certainly no shortage of targets for the DOJ to choose from, but here are a few of the more egregious violators that could draw the attention of Justice Department attorneys. 

New York City - The New York Police Department has been sued on numerous occasions since the Bruen decision came down over delays in processing gun permits, including a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a number of plaintiffs and attorney Mirel Fisch, who contend their rights have been violated. 

“Until there is a federal decision holding that an excessive delay violates the Second Amendment, it will take a significant amount of time until people can actually exercise their rights,” Fisch said.

Under state law, licensing officials must act within six months or give a good reason for delaying an applicant, which rarely happens, applicants said.

“The first named plaintiff, that was about 17 months,” Fisch said.

The suit also detailed screw ups at the NYPD.

“Once I went there and picked it up, there was somebody else’s picture on my license," Tsulis said.

The NYPD declined to comment on the lawsuit. For NY1’s original report, the NYPD said in a statement the process can be lengthy for thorough screening.

The NYPD received 9,432 new applications for concealed carry permits last year alone. Before the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision, the NYPD got hundreds of applications a year.

Another federal suit against the city is seeking class action status for all applicants who have been waiting for gun licenses longer than six months.

“People are waiting far too long to be able to exercise their constitutional rights,” Peter Tilem, the attorney who filed the suit, said.

Santa Clara County, California - The former county sheriff resigned in disgrace shortly before being found guilty of corruption in a civl trial in a pay-to-play scandal where donors gave cash and prizes to obtain rarely-issued permits, but things haven't gotten much better even after the demise of the "may issue" law in California. Santa Clara is one of several jurisdictions in the state where it costs four figures to obtain a carry permit, and applicants are subject to a number of requirements that seem designed to limit the number of permits that are issued; including providing three character references, go through a psychological evaluation, and complete a form that the sheriff's office says includes "substantia personal information" that "may be subject to public access under the California Public Records Act." 

Hawaii - Not only does Hawaii not recognize active carry licenses from other states, there is no process by which a non-resident can apply for or receive a Hawaii permit-to-carry. Essentially, your Second Amendment rights are null and void if you visit the state; a situation that would clearly draw the attention of the DOJ's Civil Rights division if our First, Fourth, or any other enumerated right were treated in the same manner. 

U.S. Virgin Islands - As long as we're talking tropical locales, the U.S. Virgin Islands should come under some scrutiny (and I'd be happy to join the DOJ on a fact-finding mission). The territory was just sued by the co-owner of a marina in St. Thomas over some of the screwier provisions in both written statute and unwritten policy, which should provide the DOJ with a good starting point for its investigation. 

Kosei Ohno, one of the owners of Crown Bay Marina on St. Thomas, is suing Police Commissioner Mario Brooks and the Government of the Virgin Islands over alleged unlawfully blocking the renewal of his firearm licenses. 

According to the civil suit, filed on Thursday, Mr. Ohno first applied for concealed carry licenses for two pistols in 2018, and was approved for both. In 2021, he applied to renew the permits, and that was also approved.

According to court documents, in August 2024, Mr. Ohno once again applied to renew his firearms licenses, but this time he says the V.I. Police Department refused to allow the renewal until he obtained a Virgin Islands driver's license. He applied again in October of the same year, and followed up on October 21 with a letter to Commissioner Brooks and the Director of the VIPD Firearms Bureau.

In the letter, Mr. Ohno noted that several incidents at Crown Bay Marina over the years had prompted the need for him to obtain and carry firearms. He noted that he possesses a concealed carry license issued by the state of Washington, where he resides. Mr. Ohno also informed authorities that when he comes to the Virgin Islands to conduct business, he does not stay long enough to need a Virgin Islands driver's license.

The requirement for a local driver's license, Mr. Ohno argues, is not contained in the statute governing the licensure of firearms in the territory – Title 23, Chapter 5 of the Virgin Islands Code. As such, his letter concluded, the denial of his application to renew his concealed carry permit was a violation of his rights under the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Months passed with no response, the lawsuit claims, until Mr. Ohno received a letter from Commissioner Brooks dated March 12, 2025. The commissioner reportedly said that one of the firearms in question was not a pistol but an “assault weapon” according to the VI Code. The .300 Sig Sauer MCX was not a “standard handgun” as it has a removable scope and the capacity to be converted into a short-barreled rifle, according to the Commissioner's letter. As such, a concealed carry license was not available for that weapon.

Mr. Ohno was informed that the renewal of the other firearm, a 9mm HK P30 SK, could proceed.

In addition to those jurisdictions, the state of California also doesn't currently have a process for non-residents to obtain a carry license, and as long as the DOJ Civil Rights Division is investigating Los Angeles County they might as well take a look at the laws adopted by the legislature in Sacramento. Honestly, going after violations of our Second Amendment rights provides the Civil Rights attorneys with a target-rich environment, but the locations mentioned above are at least a good place to start.