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Friday, October 23, 2026

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Crime · Friday, October 23, 2026

Justice Department opens a Connecticut gun-permit inquiry

The File desk · Oct. 23, 2026, 7:00 a.m. ET

Confirmed1 primary sources

Status

The Justice Department release is public. The matter is a civil investigation. No person has been charged.
The Justice Department said Thursday it is investigating how police in Middletown and Waterbury, Connecticut, handle gun-carry permits. The inquiry is civil. No one has been charged.
The work sits with the Civil Rights Division's Second Amendment section. The release says the departments may be unreasonably denying permits. That wording is the department's, not a court finding.
Why it matters (Estimate). Permit applicants in those two cities are the people the inquiry names. No charge is pending against an officer or an applicant. (Estimate.)
The release quotes for the point that the right applies outside the home, and that lengthy wait times can deny public carry.
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.The release uses , with the word and, not an ampersand. The phrase may be unreasonably denying is the Justice Department's.

What is still unknown or disputed

  • No one is charged, so this story does not use a charges footnote.
  • The release does not say when the inquiry will end.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Justice Department launches investigation into Connecticut police departments' gun permitting

    U.S. Department of Justice · October 22, 2026

    DOJ said it opened a civil inquiry into Middletown and Waterbury permit practices. No charges are announced.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-opens-investigation-alleged-firearm-permitting-abuses-two-connecticut

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