CCW Permit Question (California)

[Kris]

I'm 25 and I reside in Los Angeles.
About two weeks ago, a young man was sitting on his porch with his girlfriend.
A few gang members walked by, and while doing so they asked the young man "Where are you from".
He replied "I'm not a gangster, I don't mess with it".
The gang members left and continued walking.
About 5 to 10 minutes later the gang members came back, shot, and killed him.
I can tell you about 3 more stories like that, that have occured in less than a month.

I made up my mind to purchase a firearm soon, to protect myself and my fiancee.
I've been reading up on the CCW laws for California, and it's basically telling me that
my request will be refused by a County Sheriff or Police Chief if my reasoning isn't good enough.

If a situation were to occur where I had to defend myself,
I don't want to be arrested for Carrying a Concealed Firearm,
but at the same time I don't want to die for not discharging my weapon either.

Do you have any suggestions or advice on what I should do?
I'm not a suspect, but I definitely don't want to be a victim.

Thanks in advance.

[milkmood]

Hi Kris...

California are surrounded by three "shall issue to residents and non-residents" states, meaning, they'll issue permits to any US resident that meets that state's criteria.

Unfortunately though, California doesn't recognize concealed carry permits from ANY state besides California.

You could open-carry. California allows it, but as I understand it, you have to carry loaded magazines separately.

Problem with open carrying is, if you live in a neighborhood like that, you could be asking for more trouble, and could be a higher target for burglary and gun theft when you're not home, which further contributes to the problem.

Arizona is literally hours away from passing a new law that allows concealed carry without a permit, being only the third state to do so. You could move here

[JSDinTexas]

Since you are probably not going to move:

1) Apply for the license in CA and wait to see if approved (you can't take further action until CA renders its approval or disapproval). If not approved see #4
2) If concerned about ability to show reason why - do an area crime search for your neighborhood to show a high crime rate (if it does) or such as that - in other words, what does CA think is a good reason to approve?
3) Read carefully the requirements for the license and answer everything in the way that will improve your chances of being approved (telling the truth of course so you don't lie on a govt document)
4) If not approved, then is the time to get into the appeal process - this may require a lawyer to add some officialdom to the whole thing

and lastly, if all else fails, move to TX where we execute em, or shoot em regularly and nobody gets too excited about it. (just kidding ... maybe)

Good Luck

[Kris]

lol..Thanks for the advice.
I'll apply and see what happens.

[Shelby]

I feel for you, im in the same boat you are in MD. I do have a Fla non resident carry but it does me no good in Md. Good Luck

[c4400]

You won't get it. CA allows the issuance of CCW permits to be politicized, corrupted by favors, preference, contributions, and the adoption of localized policies of "No Issue." Other counties such as San Bernardino, are not as insane.. and may issue-- thereby causing incidences of unequal treatment under the law. I'm amazed it hasn't been challenged successfully and fixed yet. I'd say get the hell OUT of CA. It's too insane, turning into a third world dump, infrastructure is falling apart. Oh and bonus! They're always talking about having to free prisoners cause they're broke!

[Stiofan]

Los Angeles County has over 8,000,000 residents. From 1984 until 1992 when the city lost a lawsuit, they issued exactly 0.

Now it's somewhat easier. I imagine out of the 8 million residents less than 1,000 have a ccw. But it could be worse. You could live in San Francisco. Good luck.

[22-250]

I would leave the dam state and go live where your free, well kinda free.. yeah easier said then done

[NDS]

I'm 25 and I reside in Los Angeles.
...
Do you have any suggestions or advice on what I should do?
I'm not a suspect, but I definitely don't want to be a victim.

Thanks in advance.

California Concealed Carry (CCW) Forum
Direct your inquiries to the link. Here you'll just get anti-California abuse and meaningless sohpistry. A lot is happening in California but you won't get unbiased discussion here. The advise to move is good. You will most certainly not get a permit in LA County. However, many other counties in CA have policies which are easier to deal with. A few of them are almost 'shall issue'.

Good luck.

[ADJ423]

Having lived in California till I was 28, except for 3 years in college, I got the hell out of that state and moved to Nevada where i can legally protect myself and family. If you can't get a CWP and moving isn't an option then I would suggest at minimum doing what most CWP holders do. That is stay aware of your surroundings at ALL times and do everything you can not to put yourself in a potentially harmful or deadly situation. If your gut tells you something isn't right then listen to it and get out of there as fast as you can. Good luck getting a CWP, but dont hold your breath.