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By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department's launch of a civil rights probe into whether Los Angeles is taking too long to issue permits to carry a concealed handgun drew criticism on Friday from advocates who called it a sharp departure from the department's longstanding approach.
Attorney General Pam Bondi in a statement late on Thursday said her office would launch a "pattern or practice" investigation into whether the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department imposes excessive wait times for people applying for concealed-carry permits.
Referring to the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms, Bondi said: "The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and under my watch, the Department will actively enforce the Second Amendment just like it actively enforces other fundamental constitutional rights."
Gun rights are one of the more divisive issues in the U.S. Gun rights advocates note their constitutional protection and say that gun ownership ensures personal safety, while gun control advocates say the nation's high level of firearms violence is a sign that tighter restrictions are needed.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is facing a pending lawsuit by gun rights groups over its concealed carry application process, fees and wait times that is slated for trial in January.
It said in a statement it respects Americans' Second Amendment rights, and that it is facing a "significant staffing crisis," with only 14 workers to process the 4,000 concealed carry permit applications currently pending.
Justice Department officials did not immediately respond to a question about whether Los Angeles took longer than other major U.S. cities to evaluate applications for concealed carry permits.
Congress authorized the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in 1994 to pursue "pattern or practice" investigations into systemic constitutional abuses as a response to the police beating of Rodney King.
Until now, that statute has been largely used to pursue investigations into patterns of discrimination, use of excessive force or sexual misconduct by police departments and detention facilities.
Opponents of the move said the Justice Department's decision to use it for gun-rights cases runs counter to the Civil Rights Division's historic purpose.
"This is a gross misuse of the government's civil rights enforcement authority," said Christy Lopez, who formerly served as deputy chief of the section at the Justice Department that handles pattern or practice investigations.
The gun safety group Giffords in a statement called the investigation "frivolous."
The Justice Department under President Donald Trump has sought to shake up the Civil Rights Division's Special Litigation Section - a team of attorneys that handles pattern or practice investigations.
It has put the brakes on two pending settlements with police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville that had followed the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
The department also recently ended a pattern or practice lawsuit that had alleged sexual abuse of minors in one company's migrant shelters.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Rosalba O'Brien)
