DOJ to investigate LA County Sheriff’s Department for Trampling on Gun Owner Rights

The Trump Justice Department last week announced an  investigation of the Los Angeles County Sheriff ‘s Department for trampling on gun owner rights.

The Department says the Sheriff’s months-long delay in awarding concealed carry permits may violate the Second Amendment.  The civil rights investigation is part of a larger review of restrictive gun laws in California and other blue states.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a March 27 press release that, “This Department of Justice will not stand idly by while States and localities infringe on the Second Amendment rights of ordinary, law-abiding Americans. The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and under my watch, the Department will actively enforce the Second Amendment just like it actively enforces other fundamental constitutional rights.”

The press release said that the Department is investigating the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department  “to determine whether it is engaging in a pattern or practice of depriving ordinary, law-abiding Californians of their Second Amendment rights. A recent federal court decision found that “the law and facts [we]re clearly in … favor” of two private plaintiffs who challenged the lengthy eighteen-month delays that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had imposed when processing their concealed handgun license applications. “

The Justice Department’s civil rights division suspects that other Los Angeles County residents are “experiencing similarly long delays that are unduly burdening, or effectively denying, the Second Amendment rights of the people of Los Angeles.”

The Department also accused other states, and particularly California,  of enacting restrictive gun laws that disregard recent Supreme Court decisions establishing the primacy of Second Amendment rights.

“The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that the Second Amendment is not “a second-class right.” And over the past two decades, the Supreme Court has recognized that the Second Amendment is a fundamental, individual constitutional right and has taken multiple opportunities to strengthen Second Amendment protections for ordinary, law-abiding citizens.”

But “Some States and localities [have] resisted this recent pro-Second Amendment case law. And California has been a particularly egregious offender. In response to recent Supreme Court case law, California enacted new legislation to further restrict the ability of ordinary, law-abiding Californians to keep and bear arms. And many California localities appear to be imposing additional burdens beyond those required by California state law, including by subjecting ordinary, law-abiding Californians to expensive fees and lengthy wait times associated with applications for concealed handgun licenses.”

In response to the investigation the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that they are committed to the Second Amendment but a staffing shortage was responsible for the delay in processing concealed carry permits.

“We are committed to processing all Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) applications in compliance with state and local laws to promote responsible gun ownership,” the statement said. “The Department is facing a significant staffing crisis, with only 14 personnel in our CCW Unit, yet we have successfully approved 15,000 CCW applications. Currently, we are diligently working through approximately 4,000 active cases, striving to meet this unfunded mandate.”

This kind of federal investigation of the LA Sheriff’s Department is known as a pattern or practice probe of police forces. Such probes have traditionally focused on police brutality and race discrimination. This is apparently the first time a pattern and practice probe has focused on the denial of gun rights.

Gun Owners of America Senior Vice President Erich Pratt welcomed the Justice Department move. He told the California Globe that, “These investigations are a game-changer for gun owners’ rights. For too long, anti-gun states have trampled on the Second Amendment without fear of repercussions. But with the Trump administration turning up the heat, these states are finally being held accountable. If these investigations lead to real consequences—whether through legal rulings, funding cuts, or other enforcement actions—we could see a major shift in how states treat gun rights. At the very least, it sends a strong message: the days of ignoring the Constitution with impunity are over.”