Two people have been arrested in an Egg Harbor City child sex assault probe, and the same state that can't keep predators away from kids is making it nearly impossible for citizens to arm themselves in self-defense — a failure on both ends of public safety that leaves ordinary Americans paying the price.
The Press of Atlantic City reported the arrests in the child sex assault investigation, details of which remain limited as the probe continues. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday it is investigating Pennsauken, New Jersey, over what it calls "egregious and unjust" delays in processing firearm permit applications — a pattern that suggests the state's priorities are upside down.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon didn't mince words. "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," she said. "Our investigation aims to discover if allegations of unconstitutional delays in firearm permitting are true, and if so, to fix it."
According to the Daily Caller, applicants for a concealed carry permit in Pennsauken must provide four references, a ten-year address history, and submit fingerprints — just to exercise a constitutional right. The National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action notes New Jersey has some of the strictest gun laws in the country.
"Individuals and groups have alleged to us that they have endured extensive delays from Pennsauken in responding to applications for permits to purchase of lawful handguns," DOJ officials told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "We have not reached any conclusions but will investigate whether there exists a pattern or practice of deprivation of constitutional rights."
Pennsauken's Democratic Mayor Nicole Roberts did not respond to a request for comment.
This isn't the DOJ's first rodeo. The Civil Rights Division sued San Jose, California, in September over a $1,160 application fee and mandatory psychological exam for concealed carry permits. In August, the Second Amendment Section settled a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department over unreasonable delays in processing carry applications. A June letter to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker launched a similar probe there.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas saw this coming. In his 2022 opinion in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, he wrote: "Because any permitting scheme can be put toward abusive ends, we do not rule out constitutional challenges to shall-issue regimes where, for example, lengthy wait times in processing license applications or exorbitant fees deny ordinary citizens their right to public carry."
New Jersey's political class has built a system where predators find their way to children and law-abiding citizens can't find their way to a carry permit. The DOJ is finally pushing back on the Second Amendment front. The question is whether anyone in power will take the other failure just as seriously.
