The Justice Department is investigating whether the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department violated the Second Amendment rights of residents through a pattern of long delays in issuing concealed carry permits. DOJ said the investigation was part of a larger push to protect gun rights. It added that it could open similar investigations in “any other states or localities that insist on unduly burdening, or effectively denying, the Second Amendment rights of their ordinary, law-abiding citizens.” The Supreme Court has upheld Second Amendment rights in recent cases. DOJ said some states “have resisted this recent pro-Second Amendment case law.” The department called California “a particularly egregious offender,” saying it had passed laws restricting the right to bear arms. It said some areas of California had also imposed excessive fees and lengthy wait times on concealed carry permits, the New York Times reports.
A 2023 federal lawsuit by gun rights advocates claimed it had taken more than a year to obtain a concealed carry permit from the Los Angeles County Sheriff. Last year, a federal judge agreed that the Second Amendment rights of two individuals in the lawsuit had most likely been violated when the county made them wait 18 months before they received a decision. The Justice Department said it believed others had also experienced long delays in obtaining permits.. The Sheriff’s Department said it respected the Second Amendment and that it was committed to processing all concealed carry permits, but it added that it was facing a “staffing crisis” and had a backlog of cases. It said it had around 4,000 applications to process, with only 14 people to review them. “The Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in announcing the investigation in Los Angeles, “and under my watch, the department will actively enforce the Second Amendment just like it actively enforces other fundamental constitutional rights.”
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