The Justice Department sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday, accusing the agency and Sheriff Robert Luna of systematically violating the Second Amendment rights of residents by dragging out concealed carry permit approvals for months or even years.
In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said the sheriff’s department approved only two concealed carry weapon permits out of more than 8,000 applications over a 15-month period. Some applicants were scheduled for interviews as late as two years after submitting completed forms, the complaint alleged.
First-of-its-kind lawsuit dropped—the Second Amendment rights of Californians will NOT be trampled. This @CivilRights Division will fight LA’s deliberate delays on concealed carry permits, defending your 2A rights!
https://t.co/Egh11Rivn5 pic.twitter.com/ArJXqCfNKL
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) September 30, 2025
“This lawsuit seeks to stop Los Angeles County’s egregious pattern and practice of delaying law-abiding citizens from exercising their right to bear arms,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division. “The Second Amendment is not a second-class right.”
The department said the delays amounted to “unreasonable” obstruction of constitutional rights and directly violated California’s statutory timelines for processing CCW permits. The DOJ added that the sheriff’s department’s actions were “not through outright refusal, but through a deliberate pattern of unconscionable delay that renders this constitutional right meaningless in practice.”
The lawsuit comes as Luna is facing rising public scrutiny amid a crowded primary election next year.
In one instance cited by the DOJ, Luna allegedly failed to provide data for nearly two months after being notified of the investigation. When his office did respond, the materials showed that just two approvals were granted from more than 8,000 submitted applications.
Additionally, the nine-page complaint cites the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which set out a new test for courts to adjudicate gun control laws through a lens that determines whether a contested law aligns with the nation’s “history and tradition” of firearm regulations. The government accuses Los Angeles authorities of devising an “administrative labyrinth” designed to “frustrate and ultimately deny this fundamental right to virtually all who seek to exercise it.”
“Los Angeles County may not like that right, but the Constitution does not allow them to infringe upon it,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said. “This Department of Justice will continue to fight for the Second Amendment.”
The lawsuit is the first affirmative legal action filed by the DOJ in support of gun owners. The investigation began in March after the Civil Rights Division received numerous complaints from citizens who had not received a response to their CCW applications within the required time frame. A judge issued a partial injunction against LASD in January, ordering the local sheriff’s department to shorten wait times and requiring the state to open a process for nonresidents to apply for permits beginning in the spring.
Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said the delays are especially harmful to residents in high-crime areas.
“Citizens living in high-crime areas cannot afford to wait to protect themselves with firearms while Los Angeles County dithers,” Essayli said. “The right to bear arms is among the founding principles of our nation. It can and must be upheld.”
John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, commended the Trump administration’s lawsuit.
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“Throughout the country, crime-ridden cities like Los Angeles are blocking the Second Amendment rights of lawful citizens while their soft-on-crime policies allow dangerous criminals to roam the streets. Thanks to President Trump’s Department of Justice, these government officials are being held accountable, and aggrieved citizens will finally be granted relief,” Commerford told the Washington Examiner.
LASD and the office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not respond to requests for comment.
