If you’ve traveled to California in recent years, you know that, despite the state’s obvious woes (though San Francisco is, hopefully, turning things around), nonresidents can’t legally carry a firearm for self-defense. The situation is only marginally easier for residents. Given the state’s other restrictions on even nonlethal self-defense tools, that’s left visitors with a choice between abiding by rules seemingly crafted to favor criminal predators or ignoring the law and doing what needs to be done. But that may be changing now that a federal judge has ordered that out-of-state members of several gun rights organizations suing California over its gun laws must be allowed to apply for concealed carry licenses.
California’s Legal Gauntlet, Now More Widely Available
“Together with the Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, and Gun Owners of California, we sued Attorney General Bonta to force him to recognize the right to carry of nonresidents as part of our lawsuit in CRPA vs. LASD,” the California Rifle & Pistol Association announced. “While the Judge ruled against us for the time being in our argument that California must honor CCW [concealed carry weapon] permits issued by other states (known as ‘reciprocity’), she did agree that California must at least allow residents of other states to apply for a California CCW permit.”
Applicants must be members of one of the plaintiff organizations (yes, you can still join) and must apply in a “California jurisdiction in which they intend to spend time within the subsequent twelve (12) months and attest to that intention under oath in the application,” according to the order by United States District Court Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett. Applicants are also bound by all the usual California rules, including a limited choice of firearms “legal to possess in the state.” California severely limits those that can be commercially sold according to an ever-shifting list of features, though you can still possess many but not all other handguns there if you already owned them or bring them from outside. California CCW licenses are also specific to designated handguns identified by the applicant according to make, model, and serial number.
In other words, all the usual California nonsense—but now, at least, available to out-of-state residents.
Until now, the California Office of the Attorney General specified that “CCW licenses are issued only by a California county sheriff to residents of the county, or the chief of police to residents of the city. California law does not honor or recognize CCW licenses issued outside this state.”
Out-of-State Residents Benefit From a Broader Case
Even for California residents, this isn’t an easy task. The recent court order results from a case, CRPA v. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, challenging the onerous, lengthy, and expensive concealed-carry requirements imposed by many jurisdictions in the state.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department admits it takes a year to a year and a half to process a CCW application,” according to the Second Amendment Foundation. “The La Verne Police Department’s CCW application process costs between $900-$1100 for the initial application and over $500 for a renewal which is necessary every two years. Additionally, both the LASD and LVPD impose subjective permit-issuance criteria, in direct contravention to the Supreme Court’s edict in Bruen.”
Some jurisdictions now require psychological screenings, usually at the applicant’s expense. Others want full records of past employment.
“CRPA realizes how complicated this all seems compared to the application process in nearly every other state,” the self-defense rights organization comments in its press release. “And all we can say to that is: welcome to California!”
No Ban, Just Bureaucracy
The intent seems to be to make the process as annoying and intrusive as possible to discourage those who aren’t already in the good graces of the authorities. That’s not permissible, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, which recognized concealed carry as a protected right in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022). The court anticipated that some freedom-unfriendly jurisdictions would try to impose death by a thousand bureaucratic cuts on anybody seeking to exercise the right.
“Because any permitting scheme can be put toward abusive ends, we do not rule out constitutional challenges to shall-issue regimes where, for example, lengthy wait times in processing license applications or exorbitant fees deny ordinary citizens their right to public carry,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court.
In the course of challenging California’s red-tape barriers to concealed carry, the plaintiffs also opposed the state’s refusal to recognize out-of-state CCW permits and licenses. By contrast, neighboring Arizona recognizes CCW permits from all other states and its own permits are recognized in 36 states in addition to Arizona. While relief for California’ residents awaits the outcome of continuing litigation, out-of-state residents get a bit of a breather with the opening of the CCW licensing process.
Limited Alternatives
If you’re thinking that it’s nice that California is now willing to subject out-of-staters to the Kafkaesque ordeal it imposes on its residents with CCW licenses as the prize, but you’d rather carry a knife and pepper spray than jump through the hoops, keep in mind that we’re talking about California. Knives are also strictly regulated and subject to length limits, concealment rules, and potential prohibition. Police may decide that any given blade is a “dirk” or “dagger” subject to more rules.
Pepper spray is legal, but subject to limitations. No pepperball guns, for one. You’re limited to 2.5-ounce containers which must all be labeled: “The use of this substance or device for any purpose other than self-defense is a crime under the law.”
Saps, blackjacks, and batons, which offer the grace of leaving would-be muggers unperforated and most-likely alive while correcting their attitudes, are strictly illegal—sort of. Last year, a federal judge voided this law on Second Amendment grounds, but the state is appealing.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t carry any of the above. When laws become ridiculously restrictive, it quickly becomes ludicrous to expect compliance. Being able to defend yourself and your family is more important than any government directive to the contrary. But big-boy rules apply: Be careful and don’t attract attention.
Until restrictive laws are fully overturned, it’s encouraging to see litigation forcing California to progress towards recognizing out-of-staters’ right to defend themselves even to the limited extent permitted to state residents. Hopefully Californians will soon win some breathing room for themselves.
