In a first-of-its-kind affirmative lawsuit to protect gun owners, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Robert Luna on September 30, 2025. The nine-page complaint, lodged in the Central District of California, accuses the department of deliberately obstructing the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens seeking concealed carry permits.
The case, United States of America v. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Robert Luna (No. 2:25-cv-09323), marks the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s first direct intervention in support of Second Amendment rights.
The DOJ contends that LASD engaged in a deliberate and calculated effort to deny residents their rights through obstruction and delay rather than outright refusal. Between January 2024 and March 2025, the department received nearly 4,000 applications for new concealed carry licenses. Of those, Sheriff Luna approved exactly two. The complaint underscores that such a microscopic approval rate cannot be explained by legitimate disqualifying factors and instead points to a deliberate scheme to grind the system to a halt.
The mechanics of this obstruction are laid bare in the DOJ’s filing. Applicants were forced to wait an average of 281 days before their applications were even considered. Many waited longer than a year, with some caught in limbo for nearly three years. By May 2025, more than 2,700 applications remained pending, with interviews pushed out as late as November 2026. The Department of Justice stresses that these delays flout California’s statutory requirement for determinations within 90 days and amount to the systematic denial of a constitutional right.
The personal cost of this obstruction has been profound. Thousands of law-abiding citizens who sought to protect themselves and their families have been left stranded, their applications suspended in a deliberately hostile process. Some eventually abandoned the effort altogether, disillusioned by a system that seemed designed to wear them down. “These are not abstract statistics,” the complaint reads. “They are systematic obstructions of constitutional rights.”
“Almost two months after receiving notice of the Division’s investigation, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provided data and documents that revealed only two approvals from over 8,000 applications, and that the Sheriff’s Department set out interviews to approve licenses as far as two years after receiving the completed application,” the DOJ statement said.
The lawsuit also raises larger questions about oversight and accountability within Los Angeles County. Where is District Attorney Nathan Hochman on this? From January through March alone, approximately 8,000 concealed carry applications were filed, and Luna approved just TWO.
That’s not a typo. Only TWO applications were approved out of 8000.
This is the Sheriff of Los Angeles County we’re talking about, the largest Sheriff’s Department in the nation, presiding over a region drowning in rising crime thanks to a cocktail of failed policies and political theater. And in the middle of it all, Luna has effectively slammed the door on law-abiding citizens while criminals run the streets.
And where is District Attorney Nathan Hochman? He has remained conspicuously silent while the Sheriff’s Department systematically stripped residents of their rights. His absence in this unfolding constitutional crisis highlights a troubling lack of urgency from the very office tasked with upholding the law.
While ordinary residents are left vulnerable, waiting months or years for the chance to exercise their constitutional rights, both Sheriff Robert Luna and District Attorney Nathan Hochman move through Los Angeles with the protection of full-time taxpayer-funded security teams. What about the rest of us? The hypocrisy is staggering: the very officials accused of obstructing the rights of thousands enjoy privileges denied to the people they serve. Equally troubling are the reports, documented by The Current Report, of an unusually close and inappropriate relationship between Luna and Hochman, raising further concerns about whether decisions are being made in the public interest or to protect each other’s political futures.
The case is being led by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, with senior DOJ civil rights attorneys William Hanrahan and Andrew Darlington, and local Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hamill. The high-level involvement underscores the Department’s intent to make this lawsuit a test case for nationwide enforcement. In its press release, DOJ officials declared that the action demonstrates their commitment to ensuring that constitutional rights, including the Second Amendment, are not obstructed by deliberate state or local government action.
For Sheriff Robert Luna, already under pressure over issues of transparency and accountability, the lawsuit presents another major challenge. Now paired with questions about the district attorney’s silence, the lawsuit underscores a growing perception of systemic rot at the highest levels of Los Angeles County law enforcement.
Observers note that the case could have sweeping consequences far beyond Los Angeles. If the DOJ prevails, it will establish that deliberate bureaucratic delays amount to constitutional violations on par with outright denials. Such a precedent would force jurisdictions nationwide to reform permitting practices and could shift the landscape of the Second Amendment debate.
The lawsuit sets the stage for a high-stakes confrontation between the federal government and the largest sheriff’s department in the country. If the allegations are proven, LASD will be forced to overhaul its permitting process, and Sheriff Luna’s leadership will face intensified scrutiny. The silence from District Attorney Hochman only amplifies the sense of dysfunction. Meanwhile, thousands of Angelenos remain in limbo, their rights delayed and, as the Department of Justice now argues, denied.
Follow Us