California splits the cost of a carry license into government fees created by Penal Code section 26190 and private charges you pay to vendors.
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
California splits the cost of a carry license into government fees created by Penal Code section 26190 and private charges you pay to vendors.
Section 26190 creates two government fees. Subdivision (a) requires a Department of Justice fee. Subdivision (b) requires a separate local fee charged by your sheriff or city police chief. Neither appears in the code as a dollar amount. The DOJ fee is "a fee determined by the Department of Justice." The local fee is "an amount equal to the reasonable costs" of the local agency's work.
Other costs sit outside section 26190. Among them: Live Scan fingerprint rolling, the training course under section 26165, and the cost of lawfully owning the handgun that goes on the license. Section 26190 sets no statewide total. Any total you see quoted comes from one licensing authority's schedule.
The operative text of section 26190 carries the footer "(Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 570, Sec. 6. (AB 1078) Effective January 1, 2026.)" The amendment took effect January 1, 2026, so any fee figure drawn from an earlier source is suspect until you check it against the current text.
Section 26190(a)(1) puts the DOJ fee at the front of the process: "An applicant for a new license or for the renewal of a license shall pay at the time of filing the application a fee determined by the Department of Justice. The fee shall not exceed the application processing costs of the Department of Justice for the direct costs of furnishing the information and report required by Section 26185."
Section 26185 is the background check. For a new license the licensing authority sends the DOJ your fingerprint images, and the DOJ reports whether you are prohibited from possessing a firearm.
The ceiling on future increases is in section 26190(a)(2): "After the department establishes fees sufficient to reimburse the department for processing costs, fees charged shall increase at a rate not to exceed the legislatively approved annual cost-of-living adjustments for the department's budget." You do not pay the DOJ directly. Under section 26190(a)(3), "The officer receiving the application and the fee shall transmit the fee, with the fingerprints, if required, to the Department of Justice in accordance with Section 26185."
Because the amount is administrative rather than statutory, the figures below come from agency fee schedules. The Santa Barbara Police Department fee page lists a standard renewal of $77 and breaks it out as "$52 DOJ fee and $25 SBPD fee," with judicial and custodial or reserve renewals carrying $74 and $96 DOJ portions. The City of Brawley police fee schedule shows the same state figures on its renewal line, listing a "State Fee" of $52.00 for a standard two-year license, $74.00 for judicial, and $96.00 for reserve or custodial. Those are agency fee pages, not a DOJ fee schedule, so confirm the current amount with the agency taking your application.
Nonresident applicants pay the same money. Attorney General Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-10 states that "Initial and renewal fees shall be the same for Nonresident Applicants as they are for California resident applicants."
Section 26190(b)(1) is mandatory on the local agency: "The licensing authority of any city, city and county, or county shall charge an additional fee in an amount equal to the reasonable costs for processing the application for a new license or a license renewal, issuing the license, and enforcing the license, including any required notices, excluding fingerprint and training costs, and shall transmit the additional fee, if any, to the city, city and county, or county treasury."
Fingerprint and training costs are carved out of the local fee by that language, so they reach you as separate charges.
The timing rule is section 26190(b)(2): "The first 50 percent of this additional local fee may be collected upon filing of the initial or renewal application. The balance of the fee shall be collected only upon issuance of the license." So the agency may take up to half of its own fee at filing, and the rest only on issuance.
The ceiling is section 26190(c): local fees "may be increased to reflect increases in the licensing authority's reasonable costs," but "[i]n no case shall the local fees exceed the reasonable costs to the licensing authority."
Local schedules list filing and issuance charges separately. Santa Barbara lists an "Initial Fee: $43 (non-refundable)" and an "Issuance Fee: $172 (Only if a permit is approved)" for a standard two-year permit. Brawley lists a "Police Department Application Review Fee" of $70.00 and a "Police Department Permit Issuance Fee" of $70.00 for a standard license. The Shasta County Sheriff's page lists a standard initial fee of $153.00 with a $39.00 issuance fee. Each of those is that jurisdiction's own published number, and each can change without any change in the Penal Code.
Section 26215(a) lets a licensee apply to add or delete a firearm, change the kind of carry the license authorizes, or change the restrictions or conditions on the license. Section 26210(a) folds a residence change into the same machinery: "When a licensee under this chapter has a change of address, the license shall be amended to reflect the new address and a new license shall be issued pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 26215."
The fee for that sits in section 26190(d)(1): the licensing authority "may charge a fee in an amount not to exceed the reasonable costs to process the amended license. In no case shall the amount charged to the applicant for the amended license exceed the reasonable costs to the licensing authority." Section 26190(d)(3) sends it to the local treasury.
An amendment buys you no extra time. Section 26215(c) provides that "[a]n amendment to the license does not extend the original expiration date of the license", and section 26215(d) that "[a]n application to amend a license does not constitute an application for renewal of the license." You pay the amendment fee and still renew on the original schedule.
Amendment charges are set locally: Long Beach lists $10, Santa Barbara lists a $10 modification and replacement fee, and Shasta County lists $20.00 for a duplicate or modification. Note one trap in older county material. The Long Beach policy document, revised September 2023, ties its $10 amendment charge to Penal Code section 26190(e)(1). In the text effective January 1, 2026, subdivision (e)(1) is the psychological assessment provision and the amendment fee is subdivision (d)(1).
Section 26190(e)(1) applies only where the agency requires an assessment: "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 applicant under section 26150(b) or 26155(b), the agency may allow a virtual assessment or "approve an examination provider located within 75 miles of the applicant's residence."
Then the money: "The applicant may be charged for the actual cost of the assessment. In no case shall the amount charged to the applicant for the psychological assessment exceed the reasonable costs to the licensing authority."
That is a ceiling on what you can be charged, not a price and not a fixed dollar cap. The current text of section 26190(e) sets no dollar figure. Older local policy documents may still carry one: the Sierra County concealed carry weapon policy caps psychological testing at $150 and puts that cost on the applicant. Check the date on any policy quoting a dollar cap for this item.
Renewal is different. Section 26190(e)(2) provides that "[a]dditional psychological assessment of an applicant seeking license renewal shall be required only if there is compelling evidence of a public safety concern to indicate that an assessment is necessary." The same actual-cost and reasonable-cost language applies.
Published schedules show how the charge is billed. Brawley lists "Psychological Testing Fee, if required: Pass-through." Santa Barbara states that any psychological exam fees "will be the responsibility of the applicant (paid directly to the psychological service provider at the time of service)."
Fingerprint costs are excluded from the local fee by section 26190(b)(1) and are billed by the Live Scan operator. The Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff puts it directly: "The CCW applicant is responsible for payment of the Live Scan fees. Live Scan fees include the fees charged by the DOJ and any fee the Live Scan provider charges for their service. Live Scan fees are separate from fees charged by the Office of the Sheriff for issuance of a permit."
An agency may bundle the two into one line. Brawley shows "LiveScan and DOJ Fee - $93.00" for a standard new application.
Course price is set by your instructor, not by the state. Section 26165 fixes the content and length: no less than 16 hours for new applicants, including a component "no less than one hour in length, on mental health and mental health resources," a written examination, and "live-fire shooting exercises on a firing range" with a demonstration of safe handling and proficiency for each firearm you want listed. For renewal applicants the course "shall be no less than eight hours". Under section 26165(c) a licensing authority may instead require a POST-certified community college course "up to a maximum of 24 hours, but only if required uniformly of all license applicants without exception," which sets your seat time and therefore your bill.
One protection matters here. Section 26165(e): "The applicant shall not be required to pay for any training courses prior to the initial determination of whether the applicant is a disqualified person pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 26202." That initial determination is due within 90 days of a completed application under section 26202(d). The San Diego County Sheriff's page reflects the sequence, telling applicants that after approval "an e-mail is generated instructing you to take your required safety course and pay the final fee," and that the applicant "is responsible for the payment of any fee associated with the training and certification required by Penal Code Section 26165."
Sections 26150(a)(5) and 26155(a)(5) require that you be "the recorded owner, with the Department of Justice, of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm for which the license will be issued," so acquisition costs land before the application.
Section 31615(a) bars purchasing or receiving a firearm without a valid firearm safety certificate, and section 31615(b) makes a violation a misdemeanor. The DOJ Firearm Safety Certificate Program FAQ states that "[t]he fee for taking the FSC Test and obtaining an FSC is twenty-five dollars ($25)," that the fee "entitles you to take the test twice (from the same DOJ Certified Instructor) if necessary," and that a certificate is valid for five years. Once you hold the license, section 31700(a)(9) exempts "[a]ny individual who has a valid concealed weapons permit issued pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 26150) of Division 5" from the certificate requirement.
On the dealer transaction itself, the DOJ public firearms FAQ states that "[t]he total state fee is $37.19," which it breaks into a DROS fee of $31.19, "a $1.00 Firearms Safety Act Fee, and a $5.00 Safety and Enforcement Fee."
The Department of Justice new-laws page names a further charge on the purchase itself. It states that AB 28 (Stats. 2023, ch. 231) "Imposes an excise tax in the amount of 11% of the gross receipts from the retail sale of firearms, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition." The tax is measured by gross receipts, so it does not appear in the state fee quoted above.
Renewal frequency is set by license term in section 26220. A license under section 26150 or 26155 is valid "for any period of time not to exceed two years from the date of the license." A judicial license under subdivision (c) runs up to three years, and a custodial officer license under section 831.5 runs up to four. Where "the licensee's place of employment or business was the basis for issuance," the license runs up to 90 days and is valid only in the issuing county.
Renewal money follows the same two channels as a new application. Section 26190(a)(1) charges the DOJ fee on renewal as well as on a new license, and section 26190(b)(1) covers renewal processing in the local fee, with the same subdivision (b)(2) cap on what may be taken at filing.
The Live Scan line is where renewal costs shift. Section 26185(b)(2) requires the licensing authority to submit fingerprint images for renewal applicants for each renewal notification submitted "on or after September 1, 2026." Renewal notifications submitted before that date are handled under section 26185(c)(2), which requires no new prints. If your renewal falls after the cutover, budget for the rolling fee again.
Do not let a license lapse without acting. Section 26225(e) provides that if a licenseholder "fails to submit an application for renewal within 90 days of the expiration of their license," the agency must ask the DOJ to terminate subsequent notification under section 11105.2(d).
Section 26170 covers a person deputized or appointed as a peace officer under section 830.6 by that same sheriff or chief. Section 26170(b) provides that "[d]irect or indirect fees for the issuance of a license pursuant to this section may be waived." The waiver reaches only that license.
Section 26190 sets collection, apportionment, and ceilings. It contains no refund provision. The statewide application form, BOF 4012, has you certify the consequence directly: "I understand that the acceptance of any application by the licensing authority does not guarantee the issuance of a CCW license and that fees and costs are not refundable if denied." Section 26190(b)(2) does hold back the balance of the local fee until issuance, and section 26165(e) keeps training costs off you until the initial determination.
Before you write any checks, pull your licensing authority's published fee schedule and its section 26160 written policy, and confirm the current DOJ amount with that agency.
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