Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department agreed to expedite concealed weapon license applications to resolve a U.S. government lawsuit alleging unconstitutional delays and denials of Second Amendment rights.
The settlement addresses concerns that bureaucratic delays in Los Angeles County were infringing on citizens' Second Amendment rights, potentially setting a precedent for how such applications are handled nationwide.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has agreed to expedite the process for issuing concealed weapon licenses, settling a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The lawsuit accused the department of systematically and unconstitutionally denying Californians' Second Amendment rights through lengthy bureaucratic delays.
The settlement, filed in Los Angeles federal court, requires judicial approval. The sheriff's department did not admit wrongdoing. The U.S. government's complaint, filed last September, highlighted that officials typically waited nine months to review license applications and sometimes over two years to interview applicants. According to the complaint, only two new concealed carry licenses were approved between January 2024 and March 2025, despite 3,982 applications.
The Justice Department stated that Los Angeles has since significantly reduced wait times and now meets applicable state deadlines, including initiating reviews within 90 days. The settlement mandates that the county continue to meet these deadlines and maintain a licensing system consistent with the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which expanded public gun rights and noted that lengthy processing delays could be unconstitutional.
Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, acknowledged the sheriff's commitment of additional resources, including new software and personnel, to dramatically cut waiting times.