Los Angeles isn't a city that's ever really pretended to be pro-gun. I get that and you likely get that. However, whether they like guns or respect gun rights doesn't matter. They're required to follow the law, just the same as anyone else.
And on concealed carry permits, they're not just failing to follow the law; they might be doing it on purpose.
You see, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is responsible for issuing permits, at least in theory. In reality, they drag their posteriors to such a degree that they threaten turning the streets there into a new Grand Canyon.
Even as the majority of states embrace constitutional carry (29 so far), California continues to make it more difficult for its responsible residents to carry a firearm for lawful self-defense. Not only is the state’s concealed weapons (CCW) permit law already more complicated and burdensome than those in other states, but some localities’ implementation of the law (or lack of implementation, to be more precise) has raised allegations of unconstitutional violations of California law and the Second Amendment.
The Los Angeles, California, Police Department (LAPD) is allegedly advising applicants for CCW permits that a lack of resources means an expected processing time of around 18-22 months, even though California law mandates that permits be approved or denied within 120 days. The LAPD, it is claimed, is even manipulating the statutory deadline “by putting applicants on a waiting list and not treating their application as ‘accepted’ until LAPD decides to receive it,” even though the 120-day period starts as soon as the application is submitted. Given that the term of a permit, once granted, is only two years, the outcome is a ridiculous situation where the process takes almost as long as the permit is good for. CCW holders needing to renew are also kept waiting, and stand to lose their carry rights because renewal processing is liable to exceed the time in which a permit remains valid.
At least some of the issues stem from staffing problems, but that's kind of irrelevant. California law gives them 120 days. These limits were put in place to quell concerns of issuing departments failing to prioritize permit issuing and sitting on the applications indefinitely.
California's limit of 120 is one of the more generous limits for issuing authorities, compared to others throughout the nation.
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Four months is really too long of a wait, but 18-22 months is ridiculous..
This has led to lawsuits, both in the state and in federal court, and the Department of Justice's Second Amendment task force began its investigations by setting its sights on the LASD and its permitting issues.
Yet if the problem has gotten this out of hand, it didn't do it overnight. Backlogs like that generally don't just erupt out of nowhere. They build over time as more applications come in than the staff can handle in the appropriate time period.
The fact that the LASD has failed to address this at any point before now means that if it wasn't designed to do just this, then it was still a conscious choice, as no one has bothered to address it before now.
Frankly, while I doubt the state will give a flip one way or the other, I sincerely hope the federal courts lay a smack down on everyone responsible.
