Carrying a concealed handgun in public without a license is a crime under Cal. Penal Code Section 25400, carrying a loaded firearm in public is a...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Carrying a concealed handgun in public without a license is a crime under Cal. Penal Code Section 25400, carrying a loaded firearm in public is a separate crime under Section 25850, and carrying an exposed unloaded handgun is a crime under Section 26350 in the public places and streets that section lists. Section 25605 covers your residence, place of business, and private property you own or lawfully possess. A vehicle is not on that list. Section 25610 allows unloaded transport locked in the trunk or a container, and only for the purposes it names. To carry a handgun in public you need a license issued under Section 26150 or Section 26155.
SB 2 (Stats. 2023, Ch. 249) rewrote the licensing standards, the training requirement, the restrictions on licensees, and the list of places where a licensee cannot carry. AB 1078 (Stats. 2025, Ch. 570) then amended the licensing chapter effective January 1, 2026, including Sections 26150, 26155, 26162, 26185, 26190, 26195, 26202, 26205, 26206, 26225, and 26230, plus Section 29800. Section text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov prints the governing amendment note.
Section 25400(a) reaches a concealable firearm concealed upon your person, concealed within a vehicle under your control or direction, or caused by you to be carried concealed within a vehicle you occupy. Section 25400(b) draws the line: "A firearm carried openly in a belt holster is not concealed within the meaning of this section."
Section 25400(c) makes it a felony if you have a prior felony conviction or a conviction for a crime listed in Section 16580, if the firearm is stolen and you knew or had reasonable cause to believe it was, if you are an active participant in a criminal street gang as defined in Section 186.22(a), or if you are not in lawful possession of the firearm or fall within a prohibited class under the chapters beginning at Sections 29800 and 29900 or under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 8100 or 8103.
Paragraph (5) reaches a person previously convicted of a crime against a person or property, or of a narcotics or dangerous drug violation. Paragraph (6) applies where the firearm is loaded, or both it and the unexpended ammunition capable of being discharged from it are in your immediate possession or readily accessible, and you are not listed with the Department of Justice as the registered owner. Punishment under either paragraph runs under Section 1170(h), or county jail up to one year, a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both. Paragraph (7) covers cases outside paragraphs (1) to (6): county jail not to exceed one year, the same fine, or both.
Section 25850(a) reaches a loaded firearm carried on the person or in a vehicle while in a public place or on a public street in an incorporated city or city and county, or in a public place or public street in a prohibited area of an unincorporated area. Section 25850(b) authorizes peace officers to examine a firearm to determine whether it is loaded, and refusing that inspection "constitutes probable cause for arrest for violation of this section."
Paragraphs (1) to (4) of Section 25850(c) make it a felony on the same triggers as Section 25400(c), and paragraph (5) reaches the same prior convictions. Paragraph (6) asks only whether you are listed with the Department of Justice as the recorded owner of the handgun, with no loaded-or-accessible condition. Paragraphs (5) and (6) carry the punishment range set for Section 25400(c)(5) and (6). Paragraph (7) covers cases outside paragraphs (1) to (6): a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both. The exemptions article begins at Section 26000. Section 26010 covers a handgun carried as authorized by a Chapter 4 license, and Section 26035 protects a person engaged in a lawful business who keeps a loaded firearm in that place of business, or any person in lawful possession of private property who keeps one there.
Section 26350 makes it a misdemeanor to carry an exposed and unloaded handgun on your person outside a vehicle, or inside or on a vehicle, in a public place or public street in an incorporated city or city and county, on a public street in a prohibited area of an unincorporated area, or in a public place in a prohibited area. Section 26350(b)(2) raises the punishment to county jail not exceeding one year, a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both, but only for a violation of subdivision (a)(1)(A), carrying on the person in an incorporated city or city and county, and only where the handgun and unexpended ammunition capable of being discharged from it are in the carrier's immediate possession and the carrier is not in lawful possession of the handgun. Section 26400 covers an unloaded firearm that is not a handgun carried outside a vehicle in an incorporated city or city and county, or in a prohibited area of an unincorporated county. That is also a misdemeanor, and Section 26400(b)(2) sets the same elevated punishment but reaches all of subdivision (a), not one subparagraph.
Loaded open carry is not addressed by those sections; it runs into Section 25850. Under Section 26150(c)(2) and Section 26155(c)(2), a license to carry loaded and exposed may issue only where the county population is under 200,000 by the most recent federal decennial census, and is valid only in that county.
Section 26150 makes the county sheriff the licensing authority, and Section 26155 gives the same authority to the chief or other head of a municipal police department. Both say the licensing authority "shall issue or renew a license" upon proof of the listed requirements.
For a California resident applying under Section 26150(a) or Section 26155(a):
Nonresidents apply under subdivision (b) of either section, which adds an attestation that the jurisdiction is the primary location in California where the applicant intends to travel or spend time, live-fire exercises for each firearm to be licensed, and identification of each firearm by make, model, caliber, and serial number.
Section 26202(a) sets out the disqualifying criteria unless a court makes a contrary determination under Section 26206. They include being reasonably likely to be a danger to self, others, or the community at large; a contempt of court conviction under Section 166; having been subject to listed restraining or protective orders; convictions and dismissed charges inside lookback windows keyed to Sections 422.6, 29805, 290, 667.5, and 1192.7; unlawful or reckless display or brandishing of a firearm; current abuse of a controlled substance or alcohol; and failure to report a firearm loss. Section 26202(b) requires an investigation that includes interviews with character references and review of publicly available statements the applicant has posted.
Section 26202(d) requires written notice of the initial determination within 90 days of the completed application. On a new license, Section 26205(a)(1) requires notice of approval or denial within 120 days, or 30 days after the DOJ information arrives, whichever is later. For a renewal application submitted before September 1, 2026, Section 26205(a)(2) sets a flat 120 days, and Section 26205(a)(3) applies the whichever-is-later rule to renewals submitted on or after that date. Section 26206 then gives the applicant 30 days after receiving a disqualified-person denial or revocation notice to request a review hearing from the superior court, where the People bear the burden of showing disqualification by a preponderance of the evidence. Section 26220(a) caps the ordinary license term at two years.
For new applicants, Section 26165(a) requires a course that "shall be no less than 16 hours in length" and must cover firearm safety, handling, shooting technique, safe storage, legal transport and vehicle securing methods, where licensees may carry, and permissible use of a firearm and of lethal force in self-defense. A component of no less than one hour must address mental health and mental health resources. Instruction outside that component must be taught and supervised by firearms instructors certified by the Department of Justice under Section 31635. Students must pass a written examination, and the course must include live-fire exercises with a demonstration of safe handling and proficiency with each firearm to be licensed.
Renewal training under Section 26165(d) is no less than eight hours and must satisfy paragraphs (2) through (6) of subdivision (a). Section 26165(b) requires each licensing authority to publish its live-fire standards, including minimum round counts and passing scores at specified distances.
Section 26200(a) lists conduct a licensee cannot engage in while carrying: consuming alcohol or a controlled substance, being in a place having a primary purpose of dispensing alcoholic beverages for onsite consumption, being under the influence, carrying a firearm not listed on the license or one you are not the recorded owner of, falsely representing yourself as a peace officer, an unjustified display of a deadly weapon, failing to carry the license, impeding a peace officer, refusing to display the license or provide the firearm for inspection on demand, and violating any criminal law. Subdivision (d) limits a licensee to no more than two firearms under their control at one time, and subdivision (b) lets the licensing authority add reasonable restrictions as to time, place, manner, and circumstances, which must be indicated on the license. Under Section 26195(b)(1)(A) the license shall be revoked if the licensing authority determines the licensee breached any condition or restriction set forth in or imposed under Section 26200, and Section 26195(c) requires a licensee to report to the issuing authority any restraining order or any arrest, charge, or conviction of a crime referenced in Section 26202.
Section 26230(a) bars a licensee from carrying at listed locations including school zones under Section 626.9, preschool and childcare property, government and court buildings, detention facilities, medical facilities, public transit, bars and liquor vendors, permitted public gatherings, playgrounds and youth centers, parks and athletic facilities, most Parks and Recreation and Fish and Wildlife land, college and university property, gambling establishments, stadiums, libraries, airports, amusement parks, zoos and museums, places of worship, financial institutions, law enforcement stations, and polling places. Subdivisions (a)(22) for places of worship and (a)(26) for privately owned commercial establishments open to the public allow carry only where the operator conspicuously posts a Department of Justice uniform-design sign at least four inches by six inches.
Section 26230(b) lets a licensee transport a firearm and ammunition within their vehicle, except as to subdivisions (a)(21) and (a)(28), if the firearm is locked in a qualifying lock box listed on the department's Roster of Firearm Safety Devices Certified for Sale, and subdivision (c) extends similar treatment to prohibited parking areas. Subdivision (f) protects a licensee traveling along a public right-of-way that touches or crosses a listed premises, except as to college and university property under subdivision (a)(14). Section 26230 as amended by AB 1078 states no punishment for violating subdivision (a).
Department of Justice Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-06, dated March 27, 2025, advised law enforcement that after the Ninth Circuit's January 23, 2025 reversal, subdivisions (a)(7), (a)(8), (a)(10), (a)(22), (a)(23), and (a)(26) remained subject to the December 20, 2023 preliminary injunction entered in May v. Bonta and Carralero v. Bonta, while subdivisions (a)(9), (11) to (13), (15) to (17), (19), and (20) were enforceable again. That bulletin states the posture on its date and predates the AB 1078 amendments. Check current bulletins at oag.ca.gov before relying on any subdivision being enjoined or enforceable.
Section 25605 keeps Section 25400 and the open-carry chapter beginning at Section 26350 from reaching a citizen or legal resident over 18 who is not within the prohibited classes and who carries a handgun, openly or concealed, within their own residence, place of business, or on private property they own or lawfully possess. Subdivision (b) requires no permit or license to purchase, own, possess, keep, or carry a handgun in those places. Subdivision (c) states that the section does not affect Sections 25850 to 26055, so loaded carry runs separately under Section 26035.
Section 25610 provides that Section 25400 does not prohibit a qualifying person from transporting or carrying a concealable firearm "for any purpose specified in Sections 25510 to 25595, inclusive," provided the firearm is unloaded and locked in the vehicle's trunk or a locked container in the vehicle, or is unloaded, carried directly to or from a motor vehicle, and contained within a locked container while carried.
Under Section 626.9(b), possessing a firearm in a place you know or reasonably should know is a school zone, defined as the grounds of a K-12 school or within 1,000 feet of those grounds, is punished under subdivision (f) by imprisonment under Section 1170(h) for two, three, or five years when the possession is on the grounds. Subdivision (c)(2) exempts an unloaded concealable firearm kept at all times in a locked container in a motor vehicle or in the vehicle's locked trunk, and subdivision (c)(5) exempts a Chapter 4 licensee carrying within the 1,000-foot ring but off school property.
Section 29800(a)(1) makes it a felony for a person convicted of a felony, convicted of an offense enumerated in subdivision (a), (b), or (d) of Section 23515, or addicted to the use of any narcotic drug to own, purchase, receive, or have in possession, custody, or control any firearm.
This page covers one part of our California concealed carry guide.
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