Justice Department lawsuit alleges Los Angeles sheriff processes concealed carry licenses too slowly

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday, alleging it violated the Constitution by moving too slowly to process gun licenses for people who want to carry concealed weapons.

The sheriff's department's “unreasonable delays" in granting licenses violates California residents' Second Amendment right to bear arms outside the home, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court.

“The Second Amendment protects the fundamental constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “Los Angeles County may not like that right, but the Constitution does not allow them to infringe upon it.

A spokesperson for the sheriff's department disputed the claim, saying they have processed all concealed carry weapons applications in compliance with state and local laws.

“It is important to clarify that the LASD’s CCW Unit has been issuing permits at a significantly increased rate, contrary to the statistics and information cited by the Department of Justice in its complaint,” spokesperson Nicole Nishida said in a statement.

The lawsuit comes after the DOJ began analyzing concealed-carry permit applications in the county starting last March.

“Almost two months after receiving notice of the Division’s investigation, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provided data and documents that revealed only two approvals from over 8,000 applications, and that the Sheriff’s Department set out interviews to approve licenses as far as two years after receiving the completed application,” the DOJ statement said.

The sheriff's department waits an average 281 days to start processing applications, violating a California law requiring initial reviews within 90 days, according to the complaint.

Nishida said the DOJ requested data from the law enforcement agency when it was in the early stages of transitioning from a manual, paper-based system to an more streamlined online platform implemented in May 2023. When the current sheriff took office in 2022, he inherited a backlog of 10,000 applications that has since been reduced to about 3,200, she said.

The department also faces a “significant staffing crisis” and is working with the county to fund more positions for the unit that approves the applications.

“We remain committed to addressing all applications fairly, promptly, and with a balanced approach,” Nishida said. “We are confident a fair and impartial review of our efforts will show that the Department has not engaged in any pattern or practice of depriving individuals of their Second Amendment rights.”

Nishida said despite the staffing shortage, the department has approved more than 19,000 concealed carry weapons applications since 2020. Since the start of 2025, the department has issued more than 5,000 permits, which include 2,722 new applications.

The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction requiring the sheriff's department to issue concealed carry licenses in a timely fashion under the law.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has positioned himself as a leader on gun control and said he will push for stricter regulations.

In January, a federal appeals court prevented a state law from taking effect that banned people from carrying firearms in most public places. That decision, which the state is appealing, kept in place a previous ruling by U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney blocking the law. Carney said it violates the Second Amendment and that gun rights groups would likely prevail in proving it unconstitutional.

The law would prohibit people from carrying concealed guns in 26 types of places, including public parks and playgrounds, churches, banks and zoos.