Crime & Safety

It Just Got Easier to Get a Concealed Carry Permit in O.C.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department will loosen its requirements in response to a recent federal appellate court ruling.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department has relaxed the requirements for obtaining a concealed-weapons permit, reflecting a recent federal appellate court decision that deemed many urban counties in California to be overly restrictive in saying who can carry a concealed weapon and who can't.

Local applicants seeking a permit to carry a concealed weapon now only have to say they need one for self-defense or personal safety in the aftermath of Wednesday's decision. Previously, applicants were required to prove “good cause,” a standard that typically limited concealed weapons in Orange County to people who carry large sums of cash or valuables or who could prove an existing mortal threat, the Orange County Register reported.

“Bottom line is the sheriff is going to abide by the law,” Lt. Jeff Hallock, a spokesman for Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, told the newspaper.

Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Before the court's decision, good cause was something that was evaluated by the sheriff. What she considers good cause may not be same as Los Angeles, Riverside or San Diego as good cause. But in looking at the decision, some of the subjectiveness is taken out of it.”

The Feb. 13 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was widely seen as the court's attempt to unify the vast differences in how the state's urban and rural counties issue concealed weapons permits. Urban counties have tended to be much tighter in issuing permits while rural counties were more expansive in interpreting an applicant's “good cause” assertion.

Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

San Diego County, which was the defendant in the case, hasn't filed an appeal of the 9th Circuit 2-1 decision, though the deadline is Feb. 27.

--City News Service


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