According to Firearm Chronicles
Los Angeles County is home to more than ten million people, but only a few hundred county residents have been able to acquire a concealed carry license, thanks to the sheriff’s policy requiring applicants to demonstrate “good cause” for carrying a firearm. Self-defense isn’t seen as a legitimate reason in LA County. Neither is the fact that the Second Amendment states that the “right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” With open carry of firearms banned across the state, a concealed carry license is the only way for residents to legally exercise their right to bear arms, and it’s a right denied to almost everyone inside the county borders.
That could soon change, if we’re to believe Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who announced today that far more approvals will be coming in the near future.
The Daily Bulletin newspaper highlighted in 2016 just how bad the problem is in Los Angeles County in a feature about police chiefs in independent cities in the county handing over their authority to issue licenses to the sheriff’s office.
There are currently only 220 active concealed carry permits issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff and only 50 to 60 of those were issued to residents, according to Nishida. In addition to the standard concealed carry licenses that residents apply for, police chiefs and county sheriffs issue three other kinds of licenses to judges, reserve police officers and people who work but do not live in the issuing authority’s jurisdiction. “It’s virtually impossible for the average person to get a permit,” said La Verne resident Keith Reeves, whose concealed carry application to the city police was denied for a lack of “good cause.” Reeves, a university professor and an ordained minister, said he hasn’t applied with the county sheriff because he doubts his application would be approved. “I just know the reputation of the county, and it’s pretty futile,” he said.