California Concealed Carry Permit Basics

California License to Carry a Concealed Weapon: Permit Basics

California is a license state. Carrying a concealed handgun on your person, in a vehicle you control, or causing one to be carried concealed in a vehicle you occupy is the crime defined by Cal. Penal Code Section 25400; subdivision (b) adds that a firearm carried openly in a belt holster is not concealed within the meaning of that section. Carrying a loaded firearm in a public place or on a public street in an incorporated city, or in a prohibited area of unincorporated county territory, is the crime defined by Section 25850. A license under the chapter running from Section 26150 to Section 26235 takes you out of both: Section 25655 exempts a person authorized to carry concealed under that chapter from Section 25400, and Section 26010 from Section 25850.

Section 25400(c)(7) punishes the residual case by up to one year in county jail, a fine up to one thousand dollars, or both, and Section 25850(c)(7) makes its residual case a misdemeanor with the same maximums. Both are felonies on a prior conviction of a felony or of a crime made punishable by a provision listed in Section 16580, on a stolen firearm the person knew or had reasonable cause to believe was stolen, on active participation in a criminal street gang, and under paragraph (c)(4) where the person is not in lawful possession of the firearm or is in a class prohibited from possessing or acquiring one under Section 29800, Section 29900, or Section 8100 or 8103 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. Paragraph (c)(5), for a prior conviction of a crime against a person or property or a narcotics or dangerous drug violation, and paragraph (c)(6), for a firearm the person is not listed with the Department of Justice as owning, are each chargeable as a felony under Section 1170(h) or as a county jail term up to one year. Section 25400(c)(6) also requires the firearm to be loaded or its ammunition to be in the person's immediate possession or readily accessible; Section 25850(c)(6) requires only the non-listing.

Who issues the license

The county sheriff issues under Cal. Penal Code Section 26150. A California resident qualifies by residing in the county or a city within it, or by a principal place of employment or business there where they spend a substantial period of time. Section 26150(a)(3) treats voter registration address, a homeowner's property tax exemption filing, and other acts showing more than temporary or transient presence as prima facie evidence of residency, rebuttable by proof of a primary residence elsewhere.

The chief or other head of a municipal police department of any city or city and county issues under Section 26155. Section 26155(a)(3) requires residence in that city or city and county; the employment or business alternative in Section 26150(a)(3) does not appear.

Section 26150(d) lets a sheriff agree with a city police chief to process applications, renewals, and amendments in the sheriff's place for applicants residing in that city, and Section 26155(d) runs the other way. Section 26160 requires each licensing authority to publish a written policy summarizing Section 26150 and subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 26155, and nothing more. Live-fire standards come from Section 26165(b), which requires each authority to establish and make public the standards it uses for the required live-fire shooting exercises, including a minimum round count and minimum passing scores from specified firing distances.

Applications are uniform statewide on forms prescribed by the Attorney General under Section 26175.

What the license authorizes

Section 26150(c) and Section 26155(c) give the issuing authority these formats for a resident applicant:

• A license to carry concealed a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person.
• Where the county population is less than 200,000 persons according to the most recent federal decennial census, a license to carry loaded and exposed in only that county.

Both were amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 570 (AB 1078), effective January 1, 2026.

Section 26230 lists places a licensee shall not carry into. Parts of Section 26230(a) have been subject to federal preliminary-injunction litigation, and the enforceable set has moved. See Prohibited Places, and check the California Attorney General's firearms page for current status.

Who may hold one

For a California resident under Section 26150(a) or Section 26155(a), the authority shall issue or renew upon proof of all of the following:

• Not a disqualified person under the standards in Cal. Penal Code Section 26202.
• At least 21 years of age, with clear evidence of identity and age as defined in Section 16400.
• The residency requirement described above for that authority.
• Completion of a course of training as described in Section 26165.
• Recorded ownership, with the Department of Justice, of the firearm for which the license will be issued.

Before issuing, renewing, or amending, Section 26162 requires an authority with direct access to the designated Department of Justice system to confirm that recorded ownership, and one without access to confirm it with its county sheriff.

Nonresidents apply under Section 26150(b) or Section 26155(b), which require that the applicant not be disqualified under Section 26202 and under comparable law of the state of residence, be at least 21, and present clear evidence of identity, age, and state of residence, meaning a valid driver's license from that state or a valid out-of-state Department of Motor Vehicles identification card. The applicant must also attest under oath that the jurisdiction applied to is the primary location in California in which they intend to travel or spend time, complete the training and live-fire exercises those subdivisions draw from Section 26165, and identify each firearm by make, model, caliber, and serial number. A firearm that cannot lawfully be carried in California, or under Section 26150(b)(6) carried or possessed there, is cause for denial as to that firearm.

Section 26170 is a separate track for peace officers deputized or appointed under Section 830.6(a) or (b). It issues to an applicant not disqualified under Section 26202, at least 21, deputized or appointed by that same sheriff or chief, and the recorded owner of the firearm or authorized to carry an agency-registered one. Section 26170(c) provides that the appointment counts only toward a Section 26170 license and shall not be considered under Section 26150 or Section 26155.

What disqualifies you

Cal. Penal Code Section 26202 defines the disqualified person for Sections 26150, 26155, and 26170. Unless a court makes a contrary determination under Section 26206, an applicant is disqualified who:

• Is reasonably likely to be a danger to self, others, or the community at large, as shown by the application, the investigation, or any psychological assessment.
• Has been convicted of contempt of court under Section 166 or a comparable offense elsewhere.
• Has been subject to a restraining, protective, or other court order under a provision listed in Section 26202(a)(3), which reaches family, civil harassment, workplace violence, postsecondary school violence, juvenile, and elder-abuse orders, criminal protective orders under Section 136.2, and gun violence restraining orders under Section 18100, unless it expired or was vacated or canceled more than five years before the completed application was received, or expired or was vacated or canceled and the applicant had no notice and opportunity to be heard before it was issued.
• In the 10 years before the completed application was received, was convicted of an offense listed in Section 422.6, 422.7, 422.75, or 29805, or a comparable offense elsewhere.
• Has engaged in an unlawful or reckless use, display, or brandishing of a firearm.
• In that same 10-year window, was charged with an offense listed in Section 290, 667.5, 1192.7, 1192.8, or 29805 that was dismissed pursuant to a plea or with a waiver under People v. Harvey (1979) 25 Cal.3d 754.
• In the five years before the completed application was received, was incarcerated for, or on probation, parole, postrelease community supervision, or mandatory supervision for, a conviction with an element involving controlled substances or alcohol.
• Is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance as described in 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3).
• Is currently abusing a controlled substance or alcohol, which Section 26202(a)(9) defines as excessive use or consumption reflecting that the applicant has lost the power of self-control.
• In the 10 years before the completed application was received, lost multiple firearms to loss or theft through noncompliance with storage, transport, or securing law.
• Failed to report a loss of a firearm as required by Section 25250 or another reporting law.

Section 26202(e) applies these grounds whether or not the underlying conduct, order, conviction, charge, or commitment predates the provision, and Section 26202(b) sets the minimum investigation the authority must run before deciding.

Section 26195(a)(1) bars issuance when the Department of Justice reports the applicant as prohibited under state or federal law. Restrictions has the full prohibited-person list. Three limits that Section 29800 writes into its own felony bar decide applications, so they are here rather than there. Subdivision (c): the bar does not reach a federal felony conviction or warrant unless a California offense with comparable elements could only be punished as a felony, or the defendant was sentenced to a federal correctional facility for more than 30 days, fined more than $1,000, or both. Subdivision (d): it does not reach an out-of-state nonviolent felony where the conviction was vacated, set aside, expunged, or otherwise dismissed under the law of the state of conviction and, where that state had imposed a firearms prohibition, that relief restored firearms rights there. Subdivision (e): it does not reach an out-of-state nonviolent felony where the person received a full and unconditional pardon from that state's governor restoring civil rights that include firearms rights, and was never convicted of a felony involving the use of a dangerous weapon. Do not read "nonviolent" colloquially: subdivision (f) defines it by exclusion, so an out-of-state offense is nonviolent only if it lacks elements comparable to an offense listed in Section 667.5(c), Section 1192.7(c), Section 1192.8(a), Section 23515, or Section 29905, and an attempt, conspiracy, solicitation, or aiding and abetting of such an offense is not nonviolent either.

Denial, revocation, and your challenge

Section 26205 requires written notice of approval or denial, and a denial must state which requirement was not satisfied. Section 26202(d) requires an initial disqualified-person determination within 90 days of the completed application; a not-disqualified determination triggers the instruction to proceed with training.

Section 26195 requires revocation when the licensee breaches a condition set under Section 26200, knowingly gave inaccurate or incomplete information, became a disqualified person under Section 26202, failed to comply with Section 26195(c), or is reported by the Department of Justice as prohibited. Section 26195(c) requires you to report to the issuing authority any restraining order and any arrest, charge, or conviction of a crime referenced in Section 26202.

On a Section 26202 disqualification, Section 26202(d)(2) requires the authority to point you to the Section 26206 hearing. Section 26206, as amended by AB 1078, gives 30 days after receipt of the notice to request that hearing from the superior court of your county of residence, or for nonresidents the county where the application was submitted. Section 26206(c)(1) lets a licensing authority require you to exhaust its own appeal process first, and the authority must resolve that appeal within 60 days; Section 26206(c)(2) then runs your 30 days from notice of an unsuccessful appeal. The people bear the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence, though Section 26206(h) shifts it to you once you have been denied or revoked on a Section 26202 ground two or more times in a 10-year period. A person who loses may reapply no sooner than two years from the hearing date. Where the denial rests instead on the age, residency, training, or recorded-ownership paragraphs of subdivision (a) of Sections 26150, 26155, or 26170, Section 26206(i) points to a writ of mandate under Code of Civil Procedure Section 1085, applied for within 30 days of the notice or of notice of an unsuccessful appeal.

How long it lasts

Cal. Penal Code Section 26220 sets the term:

• Standard license under Section 26150 or Section 26155: not to exceed two years from the date of the license, except as Section 26220 and Section 26210(c) otherwise provide.
• License under Section 26150 on an employment or business basis: not to exceed 90 days, unless the license was issued pursuant to subdivision (d), and valid only in the county of original issuance. Give a copy to the licensing authority where you reside; renewal requires both authorities to concur.
• Judge or full-time court commissioner of a California court of record, federal judge, or federal magistrate: not to exceed three years.
• Custodial officer employed by the sheriff under Section 831.5: not to exceed four years, and invalid when that employment ends.
• Section 26170 license to a Section 830.6 peace officer: not to exceed four years, and invalid when the appointment ends.

Section 26210 requires written notice to the licensing authority within 10 days of a change of residence, and the authority to notify the Department of Justice within 10 days of receiving it. A license may not be revoked solely for moving to another county, provided you have not breached its conditions or become prohibited. If residence was the basis for issuance, a license under Section 26150 or Section 26155 expires 90 days after you move from the county of issuance, and a loaded-and-exposed license is revoked immediately on that move.

Section 26215 lets a licensee apply to amend the license to add or delete a firearm, authorize concealed carry, authorize loaded-and-exposed carry in a county under 200,000 population, or change restrictions or conditions. An amendment does not extend the original expiration date and is not a renewal application.

Conditions that ride on every license

While carrying under the license, Cal. Penal Code Section 26200(a) forbids a licensee to:

• Consume an alcoholic beverage or controlled substance, or be under the influence of any alcoholic beverage, medication, or controlled substance.
• Be in a place having a primary purpose of dispensing alcoholic beverages for onsite consumption.
• Carry a firearm not listed on the license, or one they are not the recorded owner of, subject to the Section 26170 agency-firearm exception.
• Falsely represent to a person that the licensee is a peace officer.
• Engage in an unjustified display of a deadly weapon.
• Fail to carry the license on their person.
• Impede a peace officer, or refuse on demand to display the license or provide the firearm for inspection.
• Violate any federal, state, or local criminal law.

Section 26200(b) lets the licensing authority add reasonable restrictions as to time, place, manner, and circumstances, which Section 26200(c) requires to appear on the license. Section 26200(d) caps a licensee at two firearms under their control at one time.

Under Section 26180, filing an application required by Section 26175 knowing a statement in it is false is a misdemeanor. Knowingly making a false statement on the application about a license denial or revocation or a denied amendment, a criminal conviction, a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity, use of a controlled substance, a dishonorable discharge from military service, a commitment to a mental institution, or a renunciation of United States citizenship is a felony.

See Application Process for filing, Training Requirements for course content and hours, and Fees and Costs for charges.