Civil Rights Division Investigates Permitting Abuses in Connecticut Municipalities, Hints at More Investigations

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, October 22, the Justice Department announced investigations into firearms permitting delays in a second state in two weeks, focusing on two municipalities in Connecticut.

“All law-abiding Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a press statement. “This right is not a luxury reserved for a privileged few, but a fundamental liberty for all, including the residents of Middletown and Waterbury, Connecticut.”

The announcement comes only eight days after the Civil Rights Division launched a similar investigation into a New Jersey municipality, and DOJ officials told News2A, “We are currently considering several possible lawsuits or investigations.”

According to the press release, the newest investigations will focus on the Middletown and Waterbury police departments’ permitting systems, which, in some cases, have delayed permits up to two years.

The letters state, “We have not reached any conclusions about the subject matter of this investigation,” but the DOJ received sufficient substantial leads to launch an investigation.

“Middletown and Waterbury came to the Department’s attention through information from a Second Amendment advocacy group. Department officials spoke with several of the group’s board members, who alleged that some local police departments were wrongly denying concealed carry permits, forcing applicants to appeal to the Board of Firearm Permit Examiners. While the group believes the board generally decides those appeals correctly, the process can delay permits by up to two years. A review of the board’s meeting minutes found that most of Middletown’s and Waterbury’s denials that the board considered on the merits were reversed,” a DOJ spokesman told News2A.

In statements to police departments in both municipalities, Ms. Dhillon notes that the investigation will focus on “policies and practices regarding issuance of permits to carry a firearm as a local permitting authority pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 29-28(a) and (c), including denials and delays in adjudicating such permits.”

That statement casts a wide net for potential abuses that go beyond delays and could quite possibly implicate subjective denials that are outside the scope of the statute. News2A has reported on significant race-based disparities in other jurisdictions, such as New Jersey.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, under Ms. Dhillon’s leadership, has aggressively defended Second Amendment rights with affirmative litigation, amicus briefs, and oral arguments in court, all of which we have tracked in our dedicated timeline.

The specific arm of the division tasked with these efforts is known as the Second Amendment Section, led by Acting Chief Barry Arrington, and officially announced by Ms. Dhillon in December of 2025.

The Second Amendment Section is actively soliciting feedback from those who believe their 2A rights are being infringed, encouraging communication through its online portal: www.justice.gov/crt/second-amendment-section. Regarding the portal, the DOJ spokesperson told News2A that “We do get [a] ‘significant’ number of complaints, though the complaints cover a variety of topics, not just permitting delays or denials.”