The U.S. Department of Justice sued San Jose, California, and the San Jose Police Department Wednesday over the city’s $1,591 fee for concealed-carry licenses, arguing that the charge violates the Second Amendment. The DOJ says the fee is the highest in the nation and increased by nearly $300 over the past two and a half years.

The lawsuit argues that the Supreme Court’s 2022 New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision prohibits “exorbitant fees” that effectively deny ordinary citizens the ability to carry firearms for self-defense. The complaint notes that San Francisco charges $144 for the same application fee, while New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Chicago also charge substantially less.

The DOJ argues that San Jose’s fee makes exercising the right to carry impractical for middle-class residents and potentially impossible for lower-income residents. The city, however, has maintained that the $1,591 charge is a full cost-recovery fee for processing concealed-carry applications.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the Second Amendment right to bear arms “is not a luxury reserved for a privileged few,” arguing that the fee is an unconstitutional attempt to impede that right.

“You don’t need a law degree to recognize that charging a fee several times higher than the cost of the firearm itself is illogical, and an unconstitutional attempt to impede Americans’ Second Amendment rights,” Dhillon said.

The DOJ is seeking court orders preventing San Jose from imposing what it considers unconstitutional firearm licensing fees. The lawsuit will now proceed in federal court, where the city’s fee and the federal government’s constitutional claims will be litigated.