Overview

• Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the lawsuit alleges a pattern or practice by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that infringes residents’ Second Amendment rights.
• DOJ analysis of roughly 8,000 applications found only two approvals between January 2024 and March 2025, with applicants waiting an average of 281 days just to begin processing and some interviews set years out.
• The complaint cites California’s requirement for initial determinations within about 90 days and asks the court for a permanent injunction compelling timely, Bruen‑compliant processing.
• The Sheriff’s Department disputes the allegations, pointing to a transition to an online system, staffing shortages, and a reduced backlog, and says it has issued more than 19,000 permits since 2020, including over 5,000 in 2025 with about 3,200 cases pending.
• The federal action follows prior gun-rights litigation that secured a partial injunction to cut delays, and the newly filed DOJ case is now pending.