The Wire · CalGunHub
Gun Rights Groups Announce Settlement of Private LA Concealed Carry Delay Suit
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A coalition of gun rights groups and individual plaintiffs said they resolved their December 2023 case over LASD processing delays, pending county claims-board approval.
Written by the CalGunHub desk from public reporting
Who this affects: For Los Angeles County concealed carry applicants, the announced agreement signals that both the private challenge and the federal government's suit over processing delays moved toward settlement within the same week, each pressing the sheriff's department toward compliance with California's statutory timelines. The private case had also raised issues about permit fees and the exclusion of nonresident applicants, though legislation enacted in October 2025 opened applications to qualified nonresidents and narrowed those disputes. The agreement still requires approval from the county claims board, and specific terms beyond the processing commitment have not been publicly detailed. This is general information, not legal advice.
One week before the U.S. Department of Justice filed its own settlement with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, a coalition of gun rights organizations and individual plaintiffs announced on August 6, 2026, that they had resolved their private lawsuit over the same concealed carry processing delays.
The case, filed in December 2023 by the Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, the California Rifle and Pistol Association, and several individual plaintiffs, accused the department of letting license applications languish far beyond the timelines set by state law.
Under the announced agreement, the sheriff's department agreed to handle applications within the timeline set by California law, according to coverage of the settlement. The arrangement still needs a final sign-off from the Los Angeles County Claims Board before it becomes binding.
The private case had also pressed claims about permit fees and the exclusion of nonresident applicants. Those disputes were largely overtaken by Assembly Bill 1078, enacted in October 2025, which opened California concealed carry applications to qualified nonresidents, according to reporting on the litigation. An injunction in the private case had already allowed nonresident applications to proceed, Fox News reported.
Publicly available detail about the private settlement is thin. The specific August 6 settlement date and terms come from a single news account published August 13, 2026, while other coverage confirms the existence of the private litigation and the nonresident injunction without detailing the agreement. The announcement preceded the August 13 filing of the Justice Department's separate settlement, which would impose four years of public wait-time reporting on the department if approved by the court.
Sources
Informational only, not legal advice. Facts are attributed to the sources listed above.