The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has settled a federal lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice concerning significant delays in processing concealed carry weapon (CCW) permits. The DOJ had accused the LASD of creating a deliberate pattern of "unconscionable delay" for law-abiding residents seeking permits to carry handguns in public for self-defense.
The lawsuit, filed last year, highlighted the difficulties eligible citizens faced in obtaining these permits. The Justice Department, quoting data provided by the sheriff’s department itself, reported on more than 8,000 CCW applications and renewals received between January 2024 and March 2025. During this period, the DOJ claimed it took an average of nearly a year for the LASD to schedule initial interviews to advance or approve these applications. As a stark result, according to the DOJ, only two CCW permits were issued by the department during that timeframe.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced the settlement this past Thursday. In a statement, Dhillon acknowledged that the sheriff had recognized the problem and had "devoted substantial additional resources," including new processing software and more personnel, to significantly reduce waiting times. The Justice Department emphasized that the Second Amendment requires law enforcement agencies to maintain objective standards for issuing carry permits and to do so without imposing lengthy delays on applicants.
For its part, the sheriff’s department last year disputed the severity of the alleged delays. It contended that despite significant staffing shortages, the department had successfully approved more than 19,000 CCW applications since 2020. The LASD also reported a higher number of permits issued year-to-date in 2025, stating it had issued more than 5,000 CCW permits, including 2,722 new applications.
The sheriff’s department attributed some of the processing challenges to a transition. At the start of the DOJ probe, LASD said it was in the early stages of moving from a manual, paper-based CCW tracking system to a new online platform designed to streamline application processing. This upgrade, implemented in May 2023, was part of broader efforts to improve efficiency, according to LASD officials. The settlement marks an end to the federal legal challenge, with the department now focused on a more expedited process for permit applicants.