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⏱️ 5-minute read
A Right Delayed Is A Right Denied
Government officials understand this very well: They do not have to ban a constitutional right outright to stop people from exercising it. They can pile on fees and subjective requirements, then let the application sit for months—or years.
That was the system the California Rifle & Pistol Association and its partners confronted when they filed California Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in December 2023. The lawsuit targeted extraordinary concealed-carry delays and California’s refusal to accommodate qualified nonresidents. It also targeted costly barriers imposed on applicants in the City of La Verne.
In a new CRPA TV interview [ [link removed] ], CRPA’s volunteer president and general counsel, Chuck Michel, explains that some Los Angeles County applicants waited nine months, 18 months, or even two years for their applications to be processed.
If government makes you wait two years for permission to exercise a constitutional right, the delay is the denial.
CRPA refused to accept that.
This Case Changed The Rules
The results are tangible.
A federal court ordered California to establish a process for qualified nonresidents to apply for a carry license. It was the first ruling in the country to recognize that the right to carry does not vanish when a citizen crosses a state line. California lawmakers later enacted AB 1078, effectively making that relief permanent through a statutory application process.
The litigation forced changes in La Verne, too. The total cost of obtaining a permit there had climbed above $1,000. The city subsidized its psychological-examination requirement and modestly reduced related fees. The fight over excessive permitting costs continues, but applicants are better off today because CRPA sued.
Most visibly, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department now says it is processing applications within California’s 120-day statutory deadline. Four months is hardly impressive for an administrative process that other jurisdictions handle much faster. Still, it beats leaving law-abiding applicants waiting indefinitely.
Winning Takes More Than A Ruling
Michel makes an important point about what happens after a favorable court ruling. Supporters see the headline and assume the lawsuit—and the work—is finished.
That is rarely how it works.
Years of discovery, motions, negotiations, legislative action, and compliance monitoring can follow. CRPA stayed engaged. Its attorneys built a record showing how long applicants waited and how few resources Los Angeles County devoted to processing them.
Michel says that work helped bring the problem to the attention of the United States Department of Justice. The federal government reviewed more than 8,000 applications and filed a separate civil-rights lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department. Investigators found average waits exceeding nine months. Interviews were scheduled as much as two years after applications arrived, with some delays surpassing 1,000 days.
The Justice Department announced its own settlement [ [link removed] ] in August, reporting that LASD had sharply reduced its waiting times and brought the process within California’s statutory deadline.
For me, that sequence matters. CRPA’s case came first.
The Reckoning Is Not Over
This victory was part of CRPA’s broader CCW Reckoning Project, launched after the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen to bring California’s licensing authorities into compliance with the Constitution.
Many sheriffs and police departments adjusted their policies without being sued. Others kept using delays and high costs, backed by subjective standards that made permits unnecessarily difficult to obtain. This is California, after all. Strike down one method of restricting gun ownership and Sacramento’s ideological allies start looking for another.
CRPA did what that resistance required. It explained the law to local officials and pressed the Legislature for changes. When jurisdictions refused to comply, CRPA sued.
The next battle is already underway. CRPA and its partners are challenging Santa Clara County’s cumbersome permitting system, including psychological examinations, character references, social-media reviews, and fees that can approach $2,000.
Los Angeles was a major victory. Santa Clara is next.
So, Does It Matter?
Californians often ask what their gun-rights organizations have accomplished lately. Fair enough. Organizations that ask for your money should be prepared to show results.
Well, here are the results.
CRPA took on the California Department of Justice, the nation’s largest county sheriff’s department, and a local permitting system that had become prohibitively expensive. It secured relief for applicants and established a process for qualified nonresidents. Its work helped change state law and document systemic delays. CRPA stayed engaged until government agencies changed their conduct.
None of this happened quickly. Individual plaintiffs joined a lawsuit that would take years. The lawyers stayed with it. In Sacramento, legislative advocates carried the results into state law. All the while, CRPA’s members helped pay the bills.
Michel, CRPA’s legal and legislative teams, advocate Rick Travis, the organization’s staff and volunteers, and its litigation partners—including the Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation, and Gun Owners of California—all deserve recognition.
This is a good time to remind everyone that while the left-wing progressives that rule in Sacramento would ultimately like to have a situation where only the government has access to guns, we living here are fortunate that this state is part of America, and we all have rights under the United States of America. Rights that can protect us from Gavin Newsom and company.
Let me close by saying this: I am a dues-paying member of CRPA, and I contribute above and beyond my dues to help pay for some of this important litigation. I would encourage you to join [ [link removed] ] today if you are not already a member.
CRPA TV Episode
My column this morning was inspired by this interview; if you want to take a deeper dive and get more color on all of this…

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