On June 23, 2022 the US Supreme Court made a landmark ruling that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual's right to carry a concealed handgun in public. While that is great news and now the law of the land, it will take some time for the full effects to trickle down to each state, county, and ultimately each individual who wants to carry concealed but previously was unable to do so.
It is up to the Sheriff of each county to determine how they will abide by this ruling and implement their CCW permit policies. Most likely they will look to Sheriffs that already issue permits and adopt similar practices. That process will likely include:
- An initial CCW application (either electronic or paper) submission
- An application fee (paid either at initial application or later)
- Fingerprints, background check and possibly an in-person interview
- Firearms training and shooting qualification with the handguns you can carry concealed
There may be other steps and qualifications but those are likely the minimum. It's important to note that each Sheriff will have their own standard regarding training requirements and you should only seek training after you have been approved by the Sheriff in the county you live in. It's also important that instruction (and instructor) have been vetted and approved by that county's Sheriff. Any instructor that offers a generic "CA CCW class" without explicitly saying it's approved for a specific county is simply taking your money.
It will take some time for each Sheriff to figure out how they will comply with this massive change in the law. As part of that it will take some time for them to vett firearm instructors to teach CCW applicants. Gun Kraft will try to become one of those approved CCW instructors for San Francisco, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Alameda, Santa Clara and other counties but it will take time. Stay tuned for further details.
Addendum: California Senate Bill 918 is making its way through the legislature. Some Sheriffs, like Sheriff Ahern from Alameda County, have decided to wait until SB 918 becomes law before updating their application process and training requirements. From their perspective this is a reasonable thing to do--they know California's laws regarding concealed carry are going to change (SB 918) but don't know exactly how. It will require patience on everyone's part but rest assured that change is coming. Until then you can read SB 918 and its continuing evolution here: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB918
June, 2022
