By DrVino
You may have heard that just after the ninth circuit’s Peruta ruling, the Orange County sheriff revised her policy on concealed carry license issuance, effectively making the O.C. a shall issue jurisdiction (background check and 16 hours of training notwithstanding). There is some anecdotal reporting that the Ventura County cheriff has made a similar move, but a quick Google search of headlines did not return any confirmation of this. In any case, not long after the change in Orange County, the San Diego sheriff announced that he won’t appeal the decision . . .
While a number of pro-Second Amendment groups have postulated the numbers of potential CCW permits that will be added in coming years as a result of the ruling, various editorial boards, both large and small, have huddled together and, with trembling hands, pecked out lengthy op-eds full of FUD. Somehow, though, most Californians are undaunted by the potential for the torrents of hemoglobin flowing in the streets. Never mind the apparent lack of codification of the decision, the potential for an appeal by the Best Looking Attorney General (who’s also running for reelection), or any other tectonic shifts relating to the change in the law.
A good, trustworthy friend (who lives in da O.C.) just called to let me know he has an interview date for his CCW: September 23rd. Six months. He made his application today. This friend is an avid shooter who got me into Front Sight and has completed that school’s training, making him eligible for CCW in something like 31 states. To his understanding, he’ll still be required to complete one of the Cali-based 16-hour CCW classes (at additional expense) as part of his CCW permitting process.
I know there are many Front Sight members in California and many who have taken multiple two- and four-day pistol classes there. The curriculum at Front Sight is good enough for more than 30 states. I hope we can get the relevant California authorities to see it fit not not require additional training and costs of CA CCW applicants.
My friend said there is much chatter on the Calguns.net forum with some San Diego residents reporting interview dates being scheduled as far out as 2015. Others are reporting repeated calls to their respective issuing offices going unanswered. I have not had a chance to verify this yet.
Nevertheless, I’m sure prospective carriers in the rest of America don’t face these obstacles. Even a med school friend, now residing in Washington (Space Needle Washington, not a-spent-12-gage-shell-will-land-you-in-prison Washington) says their process is supposed to take a maximum of 30 days and his first permit was made ready in about a week.
These schedules of interviews in 2015 may be due to a run on an unprepared bureaucracy. It may also be that, as Dan Silverman speculated in our phone conversation earlier today, there may be a deliberate effort to drag feet afoot. The whole “never attribute to malice…” thing is always good advice. In this case, I guess time will tell.
DrVino