The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has reached a settlement regarding a lawsuit over delays in issuing concealed carry firearm permits, as announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on August 14, 2026. The DOJ filed the lawsuit in September 2025, claiming that the department's delays effectively denied citizens their Second Amendment rights. The settlement aims to expedite the permit process and mandates the sheriff’s department to publicly report data on the duration of various stages in the permit process.
Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, acknowledged the sheriff’s department's cooperation in addressing the delays, which the DOJ reported could take an average of nine months. The lawsuit noted that from January 2024 to March 2025, the sheriff’s office received 3,982 applications for new concealed carry permits but approved only two. The DOJ referenced the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which affirmed the right to carry firearms outside the home, as a basis for the lawsuit. The settlement requires the sheriff’s department to implement a concealed carry licensing regime that aligns with the Bruen decision.