司法部对新泽西州彭索肯镇展开调查 指其枪支许可审批拖延涉嫌违宪
美国司法部10月14日宣布，已对新泽西州彭索肯（Pennsauken）展开调查，以查明该镇是否通过在发放枪支许可证方面极端且不公正的拖延，剥夺公民持有和携带武器的权利。司法部说，第二修正案保护持有和携带枪支的权利，包括携带枪支的权利；此次调查聚焦彭索肯镇警察局的许可审批系统，并声明此次调查不支持任何对联邦或地方执法人员的武装阻挠行为。
“我已指示民权司通过我们的第二修正案科，保护守法公民免受地方当局侵害其安全携带合法枪支的权利，”司法部民权司助理司法部长哈米特·K·迪隆（Harmeet K. Dhillon）说。“我们的调查旨在查明有关枪支许可审批违宪拖延的指控是否属实，如属实，将予以纠正。”
司法部表示，政府官员拖延发放购枪或携枪许可证，构成对第二修正案的违反。最高法院2022年在“纽约州步枪与手枪协会诉布鲁恩案”（New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n, Inc. v. Bruen）中认定，当审批程序以漫长的等待时间处理许可申请、或以过高费用使普通公民无法行使公共携枪权利时，该程序即被用于“滥用目的”。司法部指称，彭索肯通过其镇警察局，正是以这种“滥用目的”不当限制第二修正案权利。
司法部说，民权司第二修正案科负责执行第二修正案，认为自身持有和携带武器权利受到侵犯的人，可通过司法部网站该科页面提交投诉。
Justice Department Opens Investigation of Pennsauken, New Jersey's Allegedly Unconstitutional Permit Delays
The Justice Department announced on October 14 that it has opened an investigation to determine whether Pennsauken, New Jersey deprives citizens of their right to bear arms through egregious and unjust delays in issuing firearm licenses. The department said the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear firearms — including the right to carry firearms — and that the investigation focuses on the Pennsauken Township Police's permitting system. The investigation does not support any armed obstruction of federal or local law enforcement, the department said.
"I have directed the Civil Rights Division, through our Second Amendment Section, to defend law-abiding citizens from local authorities who infringe on the right to safely carry legal firearms," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "Our investigation aims to discover if allegations of unconstitutional delays in firearm permitting are true, and if so, to fix it."
It is a violation of the Second Amendment for government officials to delay issuing permits to purchase or carry firearms, the department said. In 2022, the Supreme Court held in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n, Inc. v. Bruen that a state's permitting process is put towards "abusive ends" when "lengthy wait times in processing license applications or exorbitant fees deny ordinary citizens their right to public carry." The department alleged that Pennsauken, through the Pennsauken Township Police Department, uses just such "abusive ends" to improperly limit Second Amendment rights.
The Civil Rights Division's Second Amendment Section enforces the Second Amendment, and those who believe their right to keep and bear arms is being infringed may submit a complaint through the section's page on the department's website, the department said.
图片来源：位于华盛顿特区的美国司法部总部罗伯特·F·肯尼迪司法部大楼。APK／Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 4.0
