LOS ANGELES — On August 13, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced that it had reached a settlement with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) in a case challenging the county’s egregious concealed-carry permit delays. The victory demonstrates the effectiveness of the litigation strategy announced by the Civil Rights Division earlier this year.
Ever the gracious winner, Ms. Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division’s Second Amendment Section, stated: “Yes, and we are proud to have started our Civil Rights Second Amendment practice by standing up for the rights of Los Angelenos. We are watching and we thank LASD for working with us to make things better for law-abiding gun owners!”
Within the 11-page settlement agreement is the county’s representation that it is currently in compliance with the state-mandated processing times for carry permits and shall remain in compliance at all times going forward.
Not content to take the county at its word, the settlement agreement also requires reporting. Within 90 days of the effective date, LASD must provide both the court and the DOJ a declaration demonstrating compliance with the law. Additionally, for the next four years, LASD must publicly publish statistics related to fingerprint-processing times, written notices of approvals and denials, and the number of complaints received.
This case was the first affirmative lawsuit filed on behalf of gun owners against unconstitutional measures by the Civil Rights Division (filed in September of 2025), even before Ms. Dhillon formally announced the newly created Second Amendment Section in December of 2025. (You can see all 2A-related DOJ actions in our online tracker).
In June of this year, Ms. Dhillon laid out the DOJ’s official strategy to combat gun-control measures in alignment with President Trump’s 2025 executive order to protect the Second Amendment. The strategy was described as follows:
The 2nd Amendment Section will work diligently to investigate law enforcement agencies that engage in a pattern or practice of infringing on law-abiding citizens’ 2nd Amendment rights, as well as be proactive in searching for litigation opportunities to secure such rights.
This week’s victory on behalf of gun owners in California proves that the strategy is, indeed, effective.
