The Civil Rights Division of President Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit Tuesday over the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s delays in issuing concealed carry weapons (CCW) permits to applicants.
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division explained:
On March 27, 2025, the Division initiated the first-of-its-kind Second Amendment investigation due to numerous complaints of unreasonable delays in CCW permitting decisions by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. After analysis of data and documents spanning over 8,000 CCW permit applications, the Division today filed suit seeking relief on behalf of law-abiding applicants.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division commented on the suit, saying, “The Second Amendment is not a second-class right. This lawsuit seeks to stop Los Angeles County’s egregious pattern and practice of delaying law-abiding citizens from exercising their right to bear arms.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi also gave remarks on the lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, saying, “The Second Amendment protects the fundamental constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms. Los Angeles County may not like that right, but the Constitution does not allow them to infringe upon it. This Department of Justice will continue to fight for the Second Amendment.”
To understand the perilous situation created by delays in CCW permit issuance, just keep in mind the stringency of gun control laws in California. The penalties for law-abiding citizens who breach the controls are so high that carrying a gun for self-defense without a permit is a non-starter.
In short, the law-abiding population is reliant on government permission–via a CCW permit–in order to use a firearm to exercise their Second Amendment right to self-defense.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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