Why Trump's DOJ targeted L.A. County over gun permits — and who might be next

2 weeks ago 4

At a gathering of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors successful July 2022, erstwhile Supervisor Sheila Kuehl called for a “deep dive” into the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s weapon permitting process.

Weeks prior, the U.S. Supreme Court had invalidated arsenic unconstitutional a New York instrumentality requiring radical to amusement “proper cause” for wherefore they needed to transportation a concealed firearm. Similar processes successful California and nationwide were abruptly being scrapped successful favour of much lenient policies.

Kuehl was among those who feared much guns successful nationalist would pb to much shootings, and wanted the sheriff’s section to proceed with caution.

“We request to beryllium originative astir however to code the precise existent and escalating nationalist wellness exigency that is weapon violence,” she said, referencing a related connection to usage licence fees to grow anti-crime initiatives.

Less than 3 years later, the county’s weapon permitting process is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, which announced past period that it had “reason to believe” the region was subjecting licence applicants to unconstitutionally agelong hold times.

“This Department of Justice volition not basal idly by portion States and localities infringe connected the Second Amendment rights of ordinary, law-abiding Americans,” Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said successful a statement.

Bondi cited a pending suit successful which weapon owners and advocacy groups sued the region implicit alleged hold times of 18 months. Court records amusement the region is successful the mediate of negotiating a colony successful that case.

Constitutional experts, weapon enthusiasts and weapon power advocates accidental what happens adjacent — some successful tribunal and nether the DOJ probe — could person profound implications for weapon permitting successful communities acold beyond the sheriff’s territory.

Trump has made bolstering weapon rights a national priority, Bondi has indicated akin probes could beryllium announced against different jurisdictions, and the litigants suing the region person already signaled they are going aft different section jurisdictions and instrumentality enforcement agencies adjacent — including the Los Angeles Police Department.

How L.A. County handles this infinitesimal could assistance acceptable a caller modular for weapon permitting, experts said, peculiarly successful likewise big, blue-state jurisdictions that person been reluctant to contented permits successful the past.

A agelong region battle

Kuehl’s 2022 proposal, approved by the board, ordered then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva not to alteration the county’s weapon permitting process until authorities and region attorneys could measurement in, and asked the region auditor-controller to contented a study connected imaginable improvements.

Villanueva showed small involvement successful complying. He had been bragging of expanding permits, and said the section was “retooling” its process to supply adjacent much — estimating the full could jump from little than 3,200 to arsenic galore arsenic 50,000.

Two months later, the section announced it was investigating “irregularities” successful the permitting process and a “possible semipermanent strategy to defraud” region residents. Soon after, the Times published an investigation showing that immoderate of Villanueva’s governmental supporters had received permits overmuch much rapidly than the mean applicant, immoderate with the assistance of deputies moving straight for Villanueva.

Former L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva

No charges person been filed , and a spokesperson for Villanueva denied immoderate wrongdoing.

Around the aforesaid clip successful 2022, the section was seeing a “tsunami of applications” for weapon permits, it said successful a caller tribunal filing.

Sheriff‘s Department information provided to the Times amusement applications picked up astir April 2021 — which is erstwhile the Supreme Court archetypal said it would instrumentality the New York lawsuit — and surged aft the precocious court’s ruling successful June 2022. Monthly applications, which averaged betwixt 100 and 200 successful precocious 2020 and aboriginal 2021, soared to much than 1,000 successful precocious 2022 and aboriginal 2023, though they person partially travel backmost down since.

A region auditor-controller study published successful precocious 2022 arsenic a effect of Kuehl’s measurement recovered 3,426 progressive permits and 10,300 pending applications, with an mean hold clip of astir 1 year. And it warned the region could look ineligible occupation if it failed to expedite the process and wide the backlog.

The Sheriff’s Department has cited “a significant staffing crisis” arsenic a crushed for delays, and successful effect to the Justice Department probe said it processes applications “in compliance with authorities and section laws to beforehand liable weapon ownership.”

But the suit brought by the California Rifle & Pistol Assn. and others argues region policies person made it “extremely difficult, if not outright impossible” to unafraid a permit, and that efforts to hole the contented person been insufficient.

Sheriff Robert Luna — who was elected to regenerate Villanueva successful November 2022 — told The Times that the backlog has been reduced to astir 4,000 pending applications, and that the section is “doing a batch amended than we person successful years.”

“Like everything else, we’re fixing a batch of problems, trying to beryllium efficient,” helium said.

In 2023 and 2024 — the archetypal 2 calendar years aft Luna took bureau — records amusement the section issued much than 10,000 permits, a astir twofold summation implicit the fig issued successful 2021 and 2022. At the aforesaid time, Sheriff’s Department information amusement licence rejections spiked to 480 during the 2022 exertion surge, past fell to 438 the pursuing twelvemonth and 327 past year.

Between 2020 and 2022, the section had determination betwixt 3 and six unit members moving successful its licence unit. In March 2023, 2 supervisors were added. Now, it has 13 full-time unit members and 2 much connected impermanent assignment.

Still, it is struggling to support up with the gait of caller applications, Luna acknowledged, and besides can’t spare much staffing fixed a department-wide shortfall of immoderate 1,400 deputies, helium said.

“The magnitude of those requests overwhelm the unit we have,” Luna said. “It is an unfunded mandate.”

Based connected an interior outgo study, the section charges $216 for a permit, with $43 owed up beforehand arsenic an exertion interest and the remainder owed lone if the exertion is approved.

The Sheriff’s Department said it could not remark connected the ongoing negotiations successful the California Rifle & Pistol Assn. lawsuit.

Chuck Michel, an lawyer and the association’s president, said helium believes his radical volition “be capable to enactment retired thing that protects the rights of radical successful L.A. County who are looking for a permit” but declined to supply specifics.

Michel besides said immoderate woody his radical reaches was improbable to resoluteness the Justice Department probe.

“I fishy the DOJ volition privation further assurances, beyond immoderate we hold to,” helium said.

‘Slow walking’ progress?

Experts who survey 2nd Amendment instrumentality accidental a large question for the Justice Department investigators volition beryllium whether the Sheriff’s Department oregon different region officials intentionally delayed the permitting process due to the fact that they disagreed politically with the Supreme Court’s ruling successful New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. Inc. vs. Bruen, the ruling that has forced changes.

The Justice Department has not alluded to immoderate specified grounds existing — but Villanueva has.

A mates of days aft the Justice Department announced its probe, the erstwhile sheriff commented online, writing, “Evidence suggests Sheriff Luna and the committee of supervisors are dilatory walking the licence process deliberately to circumvent the Bruen decision.”

Asked by The Times for details connected the alleged evidence, Villanueva referred backmost to the July 2022 committee gathering and Kuehl’s measure.

He said the committee “made a large effort” to dilatory his efforts to contented much permits portion it worked to “hike the fees” arsenic “a instrumentality to money anti-violence,” which helium deemed “unethical.” He besides blamed Luna for not staffing the licence portion good enough, adjacent though sheriff’s officials accidental the unit’s staffing has increased. Officials besides told The Times the fees are utilized “only to screen costs” and not to money different programs.

Kuehl called Villanueva a “liar” with zero credibility.

“Nothing the supervisors did successful the 8 years I was determination could beryllium claimed successful immoderate mode to favour the slowing down of permits. Nothing,” Kuehl said. “To beryllium successful favour of sensible weapon power oregon regularisation measures is not the aforesaid arsenic trying to manipulate a process.”

Kuehl, who retired from the committee successful November 2022 astatine 81 years old, said her tendency to audit the permitting process was driven successful portion by concerns that Villanueva was abusing the process to grant permits to friends.

“We were alarmed astatine the loosey-goosey process that Alex was utilizing to springiness retired hidden weapon permits similar escaped bubble gum arsenic a prize,” Kuehl said. “It truly was not immoderate benignant of process, truthful we truly wanted to look astatine what helium was doing.”

Beyond the county

In announcing its region probe, the Justice Department said Bondi hoped different jurisdictions would omniscient up and “voluntarily” amended their processes to support weapon rights.

“But if necessary, today’s announcement volition beryllium the archetypal of galore akin investigations, lawsuits, oregon different actions involving different localities successful California, the State of California itself, and immoderate different states oregon localities that importune connected unduly burdening, oregon efficaciously denying, the Second Amendment rights of their ordinary, law-abiding citizens,” the section said successful a March 27 statement.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, President Trump

Already, Washington D.C. is successful the government’s sights. The time aft the L.A. probe was announced, Trump issued an enforcement order requiring national authorities to enactment with D.C. to “increase the velocity and little the outgo of processing concealed transportation licence requests” successful the nation’s capital.

Those suing L.A. County are besides looking elsewhere.

On March 5, the California Rifle & Pistol Assn. sent a missive to the LAPD and the Los Angeles City Council informing that it would writer them if the LAPD did not instantly give further resources to bring down hold times for permits, which it said were averaging much than 18 months successful the city.

On March 31, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell responded with his ain letter, penning that some requested and issued permits person “increased exponentially” successful the past 2 years, and the section was taking steps to process much applications and bring down hold times.

McDonnell said the LAPD was lending further officers to its licence unit, and similar the region had started utilizing a cloud-based bundle called Permitium, which was “already enabling the Department to process much applications.”

Still, the LAPD is intelligibly struggling, different officials person acknowledged, with hold times for permits approaching 4 years successful immoderate cases.

Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton, caput of the Detective Bureau that oversees the LAPD’s licence unit, said the agelong waits are mostly owed to staffing and a stringent process that includes interviewing each applicant, processing their fingerprints, carrying retired a inheritance cheque and ensuring they person completed an accredited firearm information course.

Even if the licence portion grew substantially, Hamilton said, it would beryllium hard to trim the existent hold times due to the fact that the question of applicants who received two-year permits successful the past mates of years are starting to use for renewals.

“It’s going to dilatory america down adjacent more,” Hamilton said.

At the authorities level

Local instrumentality enforcement officials and policymakers accidental they person been watching the contented intimately and moving to update licence policies, but it has not been casual fixed the rapidly shifting ineligible landscape.

The Supreme Court ruling, officials said, is lone 1 consideration. There person besides been different caller tribunal rulings successful weapon cases successful the state, and caller authorities laws passed.

One California instrumentality — known arsenic Senate Bill 2 — expanded the fig of “sensitive places” wherever firearms are explicitly barred, beyond accepted locations specified arsenic schools and courtrooms to see bars and restaurants that service alcohol, parks and playgrounds, and different nationalist spaces specified arsenic libraries, museums and diversion facilities.

The measurement was challenged successful tribunal but substantially upheld by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals successful September. Luna said the region is present conducting a survey connected the interaction the measurement volition person connected permitting, including costs and fees.

There is a measure pending successful Sacramento, co-sponsored by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, that would bring authorities instrumentality successful enactment with immoderate of the judge’s orders for L.A. County successful the California Rifle & Pistol Assn. case, including by allowing permits for out-of-state visitors.

But the connection — Assembly Bill 1078 — would besides make immoderate caller restrictions.

Michel, the weapon group’s president, said authorities officials are focused connected limiting weapon rights erstwhile they should beryllium uncovering solutions to unconstitutional licence backlogs and hold times.

He said 1 of the astir evident solutions would beryllium to regenerate two-year permits with four-year permits, truthful that renewal applications don’t support piling atop caller applications and extending hold times.

Michel said his enactment has projected specified a measurement to lawmakers successful Sacramento, but it has yet to summation overmuch traction.

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