Exclusives

EXCLUSVIE: Los Angeles County Throws In Towel, Agrees To Stop Dragging Feet On Concealed Carry Permits

[Wikimedia Commons/Public/Massimo Catarinella]

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that Los Angeles County agreed to issue concealed carry permits in accordance with a landmark Supreme Court decision.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and Sheriff Robert Luna in September 2025, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, alleging the department displayed a “pattern or practice” of infringing Second Amendment rights through unreasonable delays in processing concealed carry weapon (CCW) permit applications. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon praised the department for addressing the issues and complying with the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen in a Thursday release announcing the settlement.

“The Justice Department supports our law enforcement partners,” Dhillon said. “The sheriff acknowledged the problem and devoted substantial additional resources, including new processing software and additional personnel, to cutting waiting times dramatically. We applaud their efforts and are happy to be able to bring this litigation to a successful conclusion!”

In the court’s official opinion on the Bruen case, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas warned that even “shall issue” jurisdictions (which California became after the decision) could face legal action.

“[B]ecause any permitting scheme can be put toward abusive ends, we do not rule out constitutional challenges to shall-issue regimes where, for example, lengthy wait times in processing license applications or exorbitant fees deny ordinary citizens their right to public carry,” Thomas said in a footnote of the opinion.

At the time of the suit, applicants were waiting an average of nine months for approval of permits, when compared to a statutory deadline of 120 days.

Pro-Second Amendment organizations and individual plaintiffs filed a similar suit in December 2023, accusing California jurisdictions of charging excessive fees and being dilatory in processing applications for carry permits. The Second Amendment Foundation, which backed the suit filed in December 2023, announced a settlement with California on August 6.

The Justice Department is also challenging California’s ban on Glock pistols in court, filing suit in July and seeking an injunction blocking the law, AB 1127, on July 29.