Federal Lawsuit Alleges LASD Approved Just Two Concealed Carry Applications Out of Nearly 4,000 Over 15 Months, Forcing Applicants to Wait Over a Year for Initial Processing
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) today filed a landmark lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and Sheriff Robert Luna, alleging the agency has engaged in a “systematic obstruction” that effectively denies law-abiding residents their constitutional right to carry a concealed firearm (CCW).
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the complaint claims the LASD implemented a deliberate pattern of “unconscionable delay” in processing CCW applications, rendering the Second Amendment right established by the 2022 Supreme Court Bruen decision “meaningless in practice.”
The core of the DOJ’s complaint lies in staggering statistics provided by the LASD itself during a federal investigation. Between January 2024 and March 2025, the department received 3,982 applications for new concealed carry licenses. Of these, the LASD approved a mere two, resulting in an approval rate of just 0.05%.
The lawsuit alleges that this near-total denial rate is achieved through administrative exhaustion, citing extreme processing delays. The complaint states that applicants were forced to wait a median of 372 days—over a full year—just for the application process to advance to the next step, such as an interview. The average delay was 281 days, with some applicants waiting as long as 1,030 days, or nearly three years.
“This is not bureaucratic inefficiency; it is systematic obstruction of constitutional rights,” the complaint asserts.
These lengthy timelines are in direct conflict with California state law, which requires licensing authorities to provide an initial determination on a new CCW application within 90 days. The DOJ argues that the LASD’s practices demonstrate a “flagrant disregard for both state law and constitutional obligations.”
As of May 2025, approximately 2,768 new license applications remained pending. According to the complaint, interviews for some of these applicants are scheduled as late as November 2026—more than two years after their initial submission. The complaint also notes that hundreds of applicants simply gave up and withdrew their requests after waiting months in the deliberately stalled process.
The United States is bringing the action under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, seeking a permanent injunction to prohibit the LASD and Sheriff Luna from continuing to implement CCW licensing procedures that violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The goal is to restore the rights of law-abiding Californians to obtain a prompt determination on their applications.
Sheriff Robert Luna is named in his official capacity, as the licensing official duty-bound under state law to issue licenses to qualified applicants who reside or work in Los Angeles County.
The DOJ argues that by deliberately delaying and effectively denying permits, the Defendants have constructed an “administrative labyrinth designed to frustrate and ultimately deny this fundamental right.”
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