The Justice Department (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LACSD) Tuesday, alleging it is intentionally delaying residents’ concealed carry applications. 

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, lists the LACSD and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, a Democrat, as defendants. It alleges that the department has “systematically denied thousands of law-abiding Californians their fundamental Second Amendment right to bear arms outside the home.”

According to state law, Californians are required to obtain a license to carry a concealed weapon in public. Residents of Los Angeles County must submit an application to the LACSD. The application includes a proof of residence and completion of a firearm safety training course.

The DOJ’s lawsuit, though, alleges that the LACSD approved just two of the 3,982 concealed carry applications submitted between January 2024 and March 2025. It claims that as of May, 2,768 applications are still pending.

It also says that applicants have waited an average of over nine months for their applications to begin processing. State law requires licensers to provide initial determinations within 90 days. 

“These are not abstract statistics; they represent thousands of law-abiding citizens who have been stripped of their constitutional right to self-defense outside their homes,” the lawsuit adds. 

“The Second Amendment protects the fundamental constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a DOJ release. “Los Angeles County may not like that right, but the Constitution does not allow them to infringe upon it. 

When reached for comment, however, the LACSD pushed back on the allegations from the DOJ.

It says that the department in 2025 has issued over 5,000 concealed carry permits, including 2,722 new applications.

The LACSD said that the DOJ, at the beginning of its investigation, requested data from the department while it was transitioning from a paper-based concealed weapon tracking system to an online platform. 

The new database was implemented in May 2023, while the old system will be phased out over time. 

The department also noted an increase in applications after the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision ruling that New York’s requirement of “proper cause” for concealed carry licenses violated the 14th Amendment. 

After the decision, the LACSD stopped enforcing its own proper cause requirement for applications, per its website. The department added that Luna “inherited a dysfunctional system,” and has since reduced the backlog of applications from roughly 10,000 to about 3,200. 

“We remain committed to addressing all applications fairly, promptly, and with a balanced approach,” the LACSD concluded. “We are confident a fair and impartial review of our efforts will show that the Department has not engaged in any pattern or practice of depriving individuals of their Second Amendment rights.”

The Hill has also reached out to the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for comment on the lawsuit.