You apply to a local licensing authority, never to the state. Penal Code section 26150 puts the decision with "the sheriff of a county." Section 26155...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
You apply to a local licensing authority, never to the state. Penal Code section 26150 puts the decision with "the sheriff of a county." Section 26155 puts it with "the chief or other head of a municipal police department of any city or city and county." The Department of Justice writes the form and runs the records check, but does not issue the license.
AB 1078 (Stats. 2025, Ch. 570, effective January 1, 2026) rewrote much of this chapter, sections 26150, 26155, 26162, 26185, 26190, 26195, 26202, 26205, 26206, 26225 and 26230 among them. It did not change the order of the steps. SB 2 (Stats. 2023, Ch. 249, effective January 1, 2024) did that, in section 26202(d): you apply, get an initial eligibility determination, then train, then get fingerprinted. Any checklist that puts training before the application is describing law that changed in 2024.
Section 26150(a) directs the sheriff to issue or renew for a California resident "upon proof of all of the following": not a disqualified person under section 26202; at least 21 with "clear evidence of the person's identity and age, as defined in Section 16400"; the residency hook below; completion of "a course of training as described in Section 26165"; and being the recorded owner of the firearm with the Department of Justice.
The issuing statutes hook residency differently. Section 26150(a)(3) accepts either residence or work: "The applicant is a resident of the county or a city within the county, or the applicant's principal place of employment or business is in the county or a city within the county and the applicant spends a substantial period of time in that place of employment or business." Section 26155(a)(3) accepts only residence: "The applicant is a resident of that city or city and county." A police chief has no employment-based pathway. A sheriff does, and it costs you term length. Either way residency is rebuttable, and both sections treat voter registration and a homeowner's property tax exemption filing as prima facie evidence of it.
Sections 26150(d) and 26155(d) let a sheriff and a city police chief agree that one will process applications in place of the other, so you may file with the other office. Section 26160 requires each licensing authority to "publish and make available a written policy summarizing the provisions of Section 26150 and subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 26155." The live-fire standard is not its subject: section 26165(b) separately requires the authority to make those standards public, down to a minimum round count and minimum passing scores from specified firing distances. Section 26170 is a separate track for a person "deputized or appointed as a peace officer pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 830.6" by that same sheriff or chief, whose fees "may be waived."
Sections 26150(b) and 26155(b) now provide for nonresident licensing directly. The applicant must not be a disqualified person "as determined in accordance with the standards set forth in Section 26202 and all comparable statutes and provisions of law of the nonresident applicant's state of residence," must be at least 21 with either "[a] valid driver's license from their state of residence" or "[a] valid out-of-state identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles," and must attest "under oath, that the jurisdiction in which they have applied is the primary location in California in which they intend to travel or spend time." Identification of a firearm that cannot lawfully be carried in California "shall be cause for denial of a license as to that pistol, revolver, or other firearm." TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS covers the modified course track.
Attorney General Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-10, dated April 11, 2025, describes a narrower nonresident pathway conditioned on membership in one of four named organizations, drawn from a preliminary injunction. That bulletin predates the January 1, 2026 amendments. Treat sections 26150(b) and 26155(b) as the operative text and confirm current guidance at oag.ca.gov.
Applications and amendment applications "shall be uniform throughout the state, upon forms to be prescribed by the Attorney General" under section 26175(a)(1)(A). The Bureau of Firearms publishes it as BOF 4012. Section 26175(b) requires the form to "include a section summarizing the requirements of state law that result in the automatic denial of a license."
Section 26175(c)(1) sets a floor for what you supply: identifying and physical description details, "the applicant's prior detentions, arrests, and criminal convictions," restraining and protective order history including out-of-state orders, mental health detention and certification history under the Welfare and Institutions Code, whether any licensing authority "in this state or elsewhere" has previously denied or revoked a carry license, and the names and contact information of "three persons willing to serve as references for the applicant," at least one of whom must be a person described in section 273.5(b) and at least one the applicant's cohabitant, each if applicable. Under section 26175(g) you "shall not be required to complete any additional application or form for a license," beyond clarifying information already provided.
Under section 26180(a), filing a section 26175 application "knowing that any statement contained therein is false is guilty of a misdemeanor." Under section 26180(b) a knowingly false statement is a felony where it concerns the denial or revocation of a license or the denial of an amendment, a criminal conviction, a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity, use of a controlled substance, dishonorable discharge from military service, commitment to a mental institution, or renunciation of United States citizenship.
Section 26162(a) requires that before issuance, renewal, or amendment under section 26150(a) or 26155(a), a licensing authority with direct access to the designated Department of Justice system "shall determine if the applicant is the recorded owner" of the firearm on the application. Under section 26162(b) an agency without access confirms it "with the sheriff of the county in which the agency is located."
Section 26202(b) sets minimum investigative requirements, and the interview is now track-specific. Paragraph (b)(1) requires, "[f]or a license issued pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 26150 or subdivision (b) of Section 26155, an in-person interview of the applicant or a virtual interview of the applicant, where the applicant appears by video and audio, at the applicant's election," and "[f]or renewal applications, the licensing authority may elect to forgo this requirement." Resident applicants can still be interviewed: section 26202(c) says the section "does not preclude the licensing authority from engaging in investigative efforts in addition to those listed in subdivision (b)."
Paragraph (b)(2) requires interviews "with at least three character references," and carries the same renewal escape hatch. Paragraphs (b)(3) through (b)(6) carry none, and apply across the board: a review of "publicly available information about the applicant, including publicly available statements published or posted by the applicant," review of the application, of the Department of Justice material described in section 26185, and of the California Restraining and Protective Order System through CLETS.
Section 26202(d) is the first hard clock: "Within 90 days of receiving the completed application for a new license or a license renewal, the licensing authority shall give written notice to the applicant of the licensing authority's initial determination, based on its investigation thus far, of whether an applicant is a disqualified person".
If that determination is favorable, section 26202(d)(1)(A) says "the notice shall inform the applicant to proceed with the training requirements specified in Section 26165," and the authority "shall then submit the applicant's fingerprints or the renewal notification to the Department of Justice". Section 26165(e) matches on cost: an applicant "shall not be required to pay for any training courses prior to the initial determination".
If it is adverse, section 26202(d)(2) requires notice that the request "has been denied," a statement of "the reason as to why the determination was made," and notice of the right to request a court hearing under section 26206. That notice also satisfies section 26205.
Section 26185(a)(1) has the licensing authority submit fingerprint images upon issuing the section 26202(d)(1) notice. The Department then reports whether the person "is prohibited by state or federal law from possessing, receiving, owning, or purchasing a firearm," and section 26185(a)(3) makes that report a precondition: "No new license shall be issued by any licensing authority unless the department confirms the applicant's eligibility".
Renewals are phased. Section 26185(b)(2) requires fingerprint images with renewal notifications submitted "on or after September 1, 2026," and section 26185(c)(3) carries the matching confirmation requirement. See RENEWAL_PROCESS.
Section 26190(a)(1) requires the Department of Justice fee "at the time of filing the application," capped at its direct costs of furnishing the section 26185 report. The local fee splits: section 26190(b)(2) allows "[t]he first 50 percent of this additional local fee" to be collected on filing, and "[t]he balance of the fee shall be collected only upon issuance of the license." Dollar amounts belong in FEES_COSTS.
Section 26190(e)(1) makes the psychological assessment the licensing authority's option and your obligation: "If a psychological assessment on the initial application is required by the licensing authority, the license applicant shall be referred to a licensed psychologist acceptable to the licensing authority." For a nonresident the authority may allow a virtual assessment or "approve an examination provider located within 75 miles of the applicant's residence." You "may be charged for the actual cost of the assessment." On renewal section 26190(e)(2) requires it "only if there is compelling evidence of a public safety concern to indicate that an assessment is necessary." The result feeds section 26202(a)(1), which disqualifies an applicant "reasonably likely to be a danger to self, others, or the community at large," as shown "by the results of any psychological assessment."
Section 26205(a)(1) governs new licenses: the authority "shall give this notice within 120 days of receiving the completed application for a new license, or 30 days after receipt of the information from the Department of Justice described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 26185, whichever is later." A slow Department response moves the outside date.
Renewals split on the same September 1, 2026 line. Section 26205(a)(2) gives 120 days for renewals submitted before that date. Section 26205(a)(3) gives, for renewals submitted on or after it, 120 days "or 30 days after receipt of the information from the department described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 26185, whichever is later." Section 26205(b) requires that a denial "state which requirement was not satisfied."
Section 26195(a) blocks issuance where the Department reports the applicant is prohibited, where the applicant "knowingly provides any inaccurate or incomplete information" on an application or amendment request, or where the applicant fails the section 26195(c) duty to inform the issuing authority "of any restraining order or arrest, charge, or conviction of a crime referenced in Section 26202." Section 26195(b) requires revocation on those same grounds, and adds breach of a section 26200 condition or restriction and becoming a disqualified person under section 26202 after issuance. Revocation carries notice to the Department and immediate written notice to the licensee.
The remedy depends on the ground. If it is disqualified-person status under section 26202, section 26206 gives you a court hearing. You have "30 days after the receipt of the notice of denial" to file the Department's "Request for Hearing to Challenge Disqualified Person Determination" form in the superior court of your county of residence, or for a nonresident, "the county in which the application was submitted." An authority may require you to exhaust its own appeal first, and must "resolve any appeal within 60 days of when the appeal is filed," which restarts your 30 days from the unsuccessful appeal notice.
The court "shall set the hearing within 60 days of receipt of the request," the district attorney represents the people, and section 26206(e) provides that "[t]he people shall bear the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the applicant is a disqualified person". If the people fail, or the district attorney declines or fails to go forward, section 26206(f) splits by ground. Where the license was denied, 26206(f)(1) has the court order that you not be deemed disqualified and that the authority issue the training notice and submit your prints. Where it was revoked, 26206(f)(2) has the court order the license reinstated, with the original expiration date extended by the span between the section 26195(b)(3) revocation notice and the court's order. If the people prevail, section 26206(g) gives you the right "to file a subsequent application for a license no sooner than two years from the date of the hearing." Section 26206(h) flips the burden onto the applicant after two or more upheld or unchallenged denials or revocations in a 10-year period.
Other grounds route differently. Under section 26206(i), where the denial or revocation rests on failing the age, residency, training, or firearm-ownership paragraphs of section 26150(a) or 26155(a), or the age, appointment, or firearm-ownership paragraphs of section 26170(a), the notice must tell you that you "may apply to the superior court of the county in which they reside for a writ of mandate pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure," filed within 30 days of the notice.
Section 26220(a) sets the ordinary term at "any period of time not to exceed two years from the date of the license." An employment-based license under section 26150 runs "not to exceed 90 days," valid only in the issuing county, "unless the license was issued pursuant to subdivision (d)," which covers a custodial officer under section 831.5 and runs up to four years.
Section 26215 covers amendments: adding or deleting a firearm, converting the license format, or changing restrictions. An amendment "does not extend the original expiration date," and an application to amend "does not constitute an application for renewal." Move, and section 26210(b) gives you 10 days to notify the authority in writing. If your residence was the basis for issuance, section 26210(d) expires the license 90 days after you move from the county of issuance. Section 26225 requires the authority to record license denials, amendment denials, issuances, amendments, and revocations, and to file copies with the Department of Justice.
For license terms and limits, see PERMIT_BASICS and PROHIBITED_PLACES.
This page covers one part of our California concealed carry guide.
Read the complete California guideBrowse local instructors offering state-approved training in your area. Book online, complete your training, and get one step closer to your concealed carry permit.