Licenses Delayed, Rights Denied: How Six States Are Sabotaging the Second Amendment

AmmoLand ^ | December 2, 2025 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Licenses Delayed, Rights Denied is a scholarly article that informs readers of the means six outlier states use to deny ordinary citizens their rights to keep and bear arms. The article is another excellent example of scholarship by Mark Smith, member of the Supreme Court Bar, distinguished Second Amendment scholar, and host of the Four Boxes Diner on YouTube. He is also a contributor at AmmoLand.com.  The article has been published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: Per Curiam, Fall of 2025, No. 23.  The six states that are actively working to undermine the Bruen methodology are described as California, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts. The article also shows specific examples in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and other jurisdictions. The complete title is: Licenses Delayed Rights Denied: How Contemporary Firearm Carry Licensing Regimes Continue to Violate the Second Amendment

Mark Smith documents five sets of methods used to make the process of obtaining a permit to carry burdensome. They include:

1. Staffing bottlenecks and restricted office hours –  Hours of availability to apply can be restricted to a few hours a week, and/or they may only be processed by a small number of individuals. These hours are often during the normal work week, requireing an applicant to take time off to complete an application. A federal lawsuit revealed the Boston Police department requires an appointment to have fingerprints taken. The department often takes months to schedule an appointment.
2. Supplementary Documents – Requirements for letters from employers, character references, or authorization to search all public and private records takes considerable time and effort. Such requirements are not authorized by the Bruen decision.

---

TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: 2a; article; banglist; commies; law

[JimRed]

Any licensing or registration requirement is a clear violation of the second amendment. But who can afford the legal fees fighting the almighty state when they find you out and drag you in?

[atomic_dog]

Those states need to be put on Department of Justice “pre-clearance” where they need DoJ to approve any proposed firearms related legislation. They did this with voting rights in the 60’s and, curiously, California was on that list too.

[bobbo666]

In CaCaLand the only way you get a CC license is : if you are a guard for a celebrity/politico or you bribe the sheriff.

[ansel12]

I probably could have gotten one in San Diego county but didn’t want to spend the money or hassle.

My business required me to go to random residences throughout the night for emergency calls if they called me from the phone book, and I would of course had to accept cash, carry cash, and valuable tools.

I would probably had qualified for a CCL.

[faithhopecharity]

at some point those responsible for adopting such anti-American “laws” or “regulations” need to be arrested and prosecuted