Trump's DOJ to investigate L.A. County Sheriff's Department over long waits for gun permits

The national Department of Justice says it has launched an probe into whether the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is violating people’s weapon rights with excessive fees and hold times for concealed transportation permits.

The DOJ announced Thursday day that it was opening an probe into the Sheriff’s Department’s imaginable maltreatment of 2nd Amendment rights, portion of a broader reappraisal of “restrictive firearms-related laws” successful California and different states.

The national authorities cited a suit that challenged the 18-month hold plaintiffs faced successful receiving concealed transportation licenses from LASD arsenic a crushed for the probe. A DOJ quality merchandise stated that it is apt others are “experiencing likewise agelong delays that are unduly burdening, oregon efficaciously denying, the Second Amendment rights of the radical of Los Angeles.”

The Justice Department called California a “particularly egregious offender” that has resisted the Supreme Court’s caller pro-2nd Amendment rulings and enacted caller authorities to further restrict the close to carnivore arms. Last month, Trump directed Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi to launch a reappraisal of 2nd Amendment law and infringements nationwide.

“This Department of Justice volition not basal idly by portion States and localities infringe connected the Second Amendment rights of ordinary, law-abiding Americans,” said Bondi successful a connection astir the LASD investigation. “The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and nether my watch, the Department volition actively enforce the Second Amendment conscionable similar it actively enforces different cardinal law rights.”

The Sheriff’s Department issued a connection Thursday saying it respects and upholds the 2nd Amendment. The section said constricted unit and a backlog of applications are to blasted for the delays successful licence approvals.

“We are committed to processing each Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) applications successful compliance with authorities and section laws to beforehand liable weapon ownership,” the connection said. “The Department is facing a important staffing crisis, with lone 14 unit successful our CCW Unit, yet we person successfully approved 15,000 CCW applications. Currently, we are diligently moving done astir 4,000 progressive cases, striving to conscionable this unfunded mandate.”

Data from the section amusement that it has dramatically accrued the fig of permits it issues since 2022. That year, the Supreme Court recovered that the 2nd Amendment close to carnivore arms overrides laws successful New York and California that restricted who whitethorn legally transportation guns extracurricular of the home. Still, critics person alleged the process for issuing those permits takes excessively agelong and costs excessively much.

Jacob Charles, an subordinate prof of instrumentality astatine Pepperdine Caruso School of Law who studies the 2nd Amendment, said helium had not seen a akin probe before. This benignant of DOJ probe, which is classified arsenic a pattern-or-practice investigation, typically focuses connected constabulary misconduct specified arsenic excessive usage of unit oregon radical bias.

The probe struck him arsenic “another civilization warfare contented pitting reddish versus blue” amid a broader flurry of “partisan targeting” by the Trump medication of wide jurisdictions and groups.

“This has to beryllium seen successful the discourse of Trump attacking instrumentality firms, universities, and cities, counties and states who don’t profess fealty to him personally and to his vision,” Charles said. “He’s not adjacent pretending to beryllium a president for each of America.”

Another adept connected 2nd Amendment law, University of Chicago instrumentality prof Darrell A.H. Miller, called the probe an illustration of the Trump medication “delivering reddish nutrient to their supporters done each transmission of powerfulness that they presently possess.”

“The information that it [the investigation] hasn’t been done earlier doesn’t mean that it can’t beryllium done, but intelligibly it conscionable highlights the information that, for the Trump administration, 2nd Amendment rights are truly important rights, particularly to the Trump base,” Miller said, “and truthful they are going to usage the powerfulness of the Department of Justice to beforehand those priorities.”

Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle and Pistol Assn., celebrated the probe and told The Times it “is 1 result” of his group’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of LASD’s concealed transportation permitting process.

“I deliberation the crushed the DOJ is getting progressive successful this peculiar jurisdiction is due to the fact that of the things we uncovered successful this lawsuit,” helium said.

Michel said helium would not beryllium amazed if the probe expanded beyond the region because, helium said, different jurisdictions and constabulary agencies successful California, including the Los Angeles Police Department, are besides blameworthy of agelong hold times and exorbitant costs for permits.

“The superior issues that we are present facing from somewhat recalcitrant jurisdictions is excessive fees to spell done an exertion process and excessive hold times to effort to get a licence — and hold times that transcend the authorities 120-day limit, immoderate going retired to 18 months oregon 2 years,” helium said.

Bondi said she hoped Thursday’s announcement would punctual different localities to “voluntarily clasp their work to support Second Amendment rights.” If not, this probe volition beryllium the archetypal of galore akin ones successful California and crossed the country, she added.

Pattern-or-practice investigations are conducted by civilian rights attorneys astatine the Justice Department to hunt for patterns of misconduct wrong a fixed instrumentality enforcement agency.

Miller, the University of Chicago professor, said the probe marked a crisp reversal for Republicans, who successful the past person spoken retired against different pattern-and-practice investigations, including into problematic constabulary departments. Recent probes person followed civilian deaths specified arsenic the killing of Breonna Taylor by a Louisville, Ky., constabulary serviceman and the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis constabulary officer.

“Republicans successful peculiar extolled a batch of content successful section power and states’ rights,” helium said. Now, for the 2nd Amendment, “those priorities get reversed.”

Miller said the probe is constricted by existing law, which volition restrict what the Justice Department tin find problematic with L.A. County’s hold times and fees.

Although the Supreme Court has suggested that peculiarly “onerous” weapon licence processes whitethorn spell excessively far, it has not defined what magnitude of clip is excessively agelong to hold for a licence oregon what licensing interest is excessively high, helium said. And due to the fact that the courts person yet to acceptable a standard, the Justice Department volition person a hard clip declaring that a definite magnitude of clip oregon interest associated with the county’s permitting process constitutes unconstitutional behavior, helium said.

The region could support itself by showing that its permitting process is functioning arsenic champion arsenic it tin with constricted resources and funding, helium said. However, should the Justice Department find thing much nefarious — specified arsenic impervious that the Sheriff’s Department was intentionally and systematically slow-walking permits — determination would beryllium a lawsuit for declaring a signifier oregon signifier of unconstitutional behavior.