Matt Bush, FISM News

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Residents in one city in California will be required to pay $1,100 to obtain a Carry Concealed Weapon License (CCW) and then $650 every other year to renew that license.

On Thursday, the La Verne Police Department announced that first-time CCW applicants would have to go through a long and expensive process prior to receiving their concealed carry permit that includes numerous administrative fees and a department-approved psychological screening. The fee statement can be viewed here.

This new fee schedule and policy was revealed just nine months after the Supreme Court recognized the right to carry a firearm in the “New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.”

According to The Reload, the ruling “struck down subjective ‘may-issue’ permitting standards, including California’s previous carry regime. It ensured that lawful adults must, at the very least, have an avenue to obtain a license to carry so long as they meet objective criteria.”

Many believe that the new fees and complicated application process were ways for the city to circumvent the Supreme Court decision and make it unnecessarily difficult for law-abiding citizens to obtain a CCW license especially as the new fees are considerably more expensive than the average cost of a handgun.

For comparison, here are some of the other CCW costs in other states:

• Georgia: Between $75 and $89 depending on the county.
• Florida: $97
• Colorado: $52.50 with local sheriffs able to charge an additional $100 fee
• Oregon: $65
• California: Average $300 depending on the county

The $1,000 required by La Verne is not only outlandish but it is entirely out of step with any other city in California or across America.

The California Rifle & Pistol Association has already sent a letter to the city through the organization’s attorneys warning La Verne Mayor Tim Hepburn to either reduce the fees or face the organization in court. The letter points out three specific aspects of obtaining a CCW license in La Verne that are outside of the Supreme Court’s ruling including the outlandish cost, lengthy wait times, and the requirement of recommendation letters.

GUN SALES SOAR

While this is happening in California, gun sales across America have never been higher. The Washington Examiner reports, “The FBI today reported near-record background checks for January and February, marking 41 straight months of 2 million or more checks conducted.”

Those checks along with the National Shooting Sports Foundation report of more than 1.3 million in sales in February show how the American people feel about the protection provided by firearms.

As gun sales increase across America, Democratic lawmakers from those in La Verne all the way to President Joe Biden himself seem to be tone-deaf to the will of Americans.

In Baltimore Wednesday night, President Biden said, “I know it may make some of you uncomfortable, but that little state above me, Delaware is one of them, has the highest rate, one of the highest rates of gun ownership. But guess what? We’re going to ban assault weapons again come hell or high water and high-capacity magazines. When we did it last time to reduce mass deaths.”

The Supreme Court appeared to foresee challenges like the one in La Verne and the ones threatened by Biden and others. In his majority ruling in the “New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen” case Justice Thomas wrote, “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.”