The Federal Department of Justice said it has begun investigating whether the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department violated people’s rights and has waited for a hidden carry permit.
The Justice Department announced Thursday afternoon that it is investigating the possible abuse of Second Amendment rights by the Sheriff’s Department as part of a broader review of “laws related to restrictive guns” in California and other states.
Federal authorities cite a lawsuit challenging the 18-month delay in receiving a hidden carrying permit from LASD as a reason for the investigation. Others may have “experienced similar delays that delayed or effectively denied the Second Amendment rights of the people of Los Angeles,” the Justice Department press release said.
The Justice Department called California a “specially serious criminal,” who resisted a recent Supreme Court second amendment ruling and enacted new legislation to further limit the right to carry weapons. Last month, Trump instructed Artie. General Pam Bondi Initiate review of the Second Amendment Act and national infringement.
“The Justice Department will not stand foolishly while violating the Second Amendment rights of ordinary, law-abiding Americans,” Bondy said in a statement on the LASD investigation. “The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and under my surveillance, the Department will actively implement the Second Amendment as it actively enforces other basic constitutional rights.”
The Sheriff’s Department issued a statement Thursday saying it respects and adheres to the Second Amendment. The department said limited staff and backlog of applications should be attributed to delays in license approval.
“We are committed to handling all hidden weapons carrying (CCW) applications in accordance with state and local laws to promote responsible gun ownership,” the statement said. “The department is facing a serious staffing crisis with only 14 personnel in our CCW department, but we have successfully approved 15,000 ccw applications. Currently, we are working to handle approximately 4,000 active cases in an effort to fulfill this unfunded mission.”
Jacob Charles, associate professor of law at Pepperdine Caruso Law School, studied the Second Amendment, said he had never seen a similar investigation before. This shocked him in the “partisan rule” of Trump’s free jurisdiction and group administration because he was “another cultural war that made red and blue get along.”
“This has to be seen in the context of Trump’s attack on law firms, universities, cities, counties and states,” Charles said. “He doesn’t even pretend to be president of the entire United States. ”
Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association Litigation challenges constitutionality LASD hidden carry license process.
“I think the reason the Justice Department is involved in this particular jurisdiction is because of what we found in this lawsuit,” he said.
Michelle said he wouldn’t be surprised if the investigation was extended beyond the county, as other California jurisdictions and police agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, also committed long wait times and expensive licensing fees.
“The main problem we are facing now with some kind of stubborn jurisdiction is going through the application process and the fees for too much waiting time to try to get a license and wait more than the state’s 120-day limit, and some people need 18 months or two years,” he said.
Bondy said she hopes Thursday’s announcement will prompt other places to “voluntarily assume the responsibility of protecting Second Amendment rights.” If not, the survey would be many similar surveys in California and nationwide, she added.
