The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) have reached a settlement over a lawsuit filed in September 2025. LASD was accused of engaging in “systemic” deprivation of citizens’ gun rights. According to the agreement, the department will shorten the processing time for gun permit applications.
Additionally, over the next four years, LASD will track the number of permit applications received and their processing times. The shortest and longest processing times will be published on the department’s official website along with the average processing days.
In a statement sent to Epoch Times, LASD welcomed the settlement agreement. The DOJ acknowledged the measures taken by LASD to improve the application process.
“Over the past year, our department has made significant progress,” the statement noted. LASD cleared the backlog of applications, established a 16-person Conceal Carry Unit, and transitioned from paper to electronic application processes. The department has already made application statistics available on its website and plans to expand transparency further.
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ, Harmeet K. Dhillon, stated, “The Sheriff has acknowledged the issues and dedicated additional resources… to significantly shorten the wait times.”
At the time of the DOJ’s lawsuit, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna expressed support for the Second Amendment via email to Epoch Times and defended the handling of Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) permit applications by his department. Luna cited staffing shortages and the transition from paper to electronic application processes.
“Despite severe staffing shortages, since 2020, we have approved over 19,000 CCW permit applications,” Luna stated in 2025, noting that his department had issued over 5,000 permits in the past nine months, including 2,722 new applications.
A DOJ press release highlighted that the settlement agreement aligns with the standards set by the Supreme Court in the 2022 case of “New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.”
In the ruling, the Supreme Court determined that carrying firearms in public is a constitutional right. Any gun laws that contradict the explicit provisions of the Second Amendment or lack precedent at the time of the amendment’s ratification are considered unconstitutional.
The DOJ’s lawsuit against LASD stemmed from its investigation into patterns or practices aimed at depriving citizens of their constitutional rights. The DOJ stated that between January 2024 and March 2025, as many as 3,982 Los Angeles County residents applied for CCW permits, but only 2 were approved, resulting in an approval rate of 0.05%.