LA County Sheriff Settles DOJ Lawsuit Over Gun Permits

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna and the United States Department of Justice reached a settlement on Thursday to resolve a federal lawsuit concerning the issuance of concealed-carry permits. The Justice Department accused the Sheriff's Department of systematically denying Second Amendment rights by implementing unreasonable processing delays.

Between January 2024 and March 2025, the department approved only two of nearly 4,000 applications. Wait times averaged over nine months, with some exceeding 1,000 days, violating California law that requires initial determinations within 90 days. The litigation followed the 2022 Supreme Court Bruen decision, which protects the right to carry a firearm for self-defense outside the home.

Under the agreement, the county commits to making initial decisions on all applications within the 90-day legal window. The Sheriff's Department attributed the delays to staffing shortages and a dysfunctional system inherited in 2022, though officials claimed they had already reduced the backlog from 10,000 cases to 3,200.