Applying to Carry a Concealed Weapon in Pasadena Could Soon Cost More

Soon it could cost local residents more money to apply for a concealed carry permit.

The Pasadena City Council on Monday will consider adopting a resolution amending the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 General Fee Schedule to allow cost recovery for administering the carrying concealed weapons (CCW) permit process.

A $93 fee is being added for fingerprinting services on an initial concealed weapons permit.

A $52 fee is being added for fingerprinting for renewing a concealed weapons permit. 

Psychological exams will now cost $150. It will cost an additional $10 to add a firearm to a permit. 

Several existing fees are also being revised.

Background checks will now cost $337 for the initial application and a renewal application. The application takes about three hours of a police officer’s time.

In June, the Supreme Court issued its decision in New York State Rifle Pistol Assn. v. Bruen. 

In that case, the court held that New York’s “proper cause” requirement for a CCW permit violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. 

California has a similar standard to New York’s “proper cause” requirement, as part of its CCW process. 

One day after the Bruen decision, the California Attorney General issued a memo to law enforcement officials stating, among other things, that  California’s “good cause” requirement for a CCW permit is unconstitutional and unenforceable, and that agencies should no longer require proof of good cause to issue a CCW permit. 

However, the Attorney General’s memo also noted that the Bruen decision “does not affect other statutory requirements governing public-carry licenses,” and, as such, “issuing authorities must still require proof that the applicant is of good moral character, the applicant is a resident of the relevant county or city (or has their principal place of business or employment in that county or city), and the applicant has completed a course of training. 

Issuing authorities may also still require psychological testing.

Almost immediately after the high court’s ruling Pasadena began receiving queries on how to obtain a CCW. 

The City is currently monitoring several bills and lawsuits that came after the Supreme Court decision.