Sac County sheriff making it quicker to get concealed carry permits
Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones has issued permits to carry concealed handguns at an unprecedented pace in the past six years. On Tuesday, he announced a series of policies that could result in his office issuing them even faster.
“It has been difficult to process as many applications each month as we receive,” Jones said in a written statement to The Bee. “This creates an untenable backlog that can get worse over time. This new system will hopefully eliminate that backlog.”
When Jones ran for office, he promised to approve many more concealed carry handgun permits than his predecessors. He delivered, raising the total number of permits held in Sacramento County from about 350 in 2010 to about 8,000 today.
Applications for concealed weapons have risen so quickly that Jones’ office has struggled at times to keep up.
Earlier this year, the department scheduled nearly 600 permit interviews in a single month. That amounted to 30 appointments per business day, many spaced just 10 minutes apart. Those interviews allow Sheriff ’s Department employees to vet applicants face to face and make sure giving them a concealed carry permit won’t endanger public safety.
The new policies streamline the process for obtaining concealed weapons permits. They require applicants to fill out application forms online instead of visiting the sheriff’s office. New applicants must still come to the sheriff’s office for an interview, but permit renewals will be handled completely online and will no longer require an in-person meeting.
Gun owners will also be able to identify five weapons on their concealed carry permit, up from three. That could reduce paperwork and staff time devoted to modifying permits.
The new rules will likely be fully implemented by January, the Sheriff’s Department said.
While reducing a persistent backlog would allow applicants to get their permits faster, Jones said he doesn’t “anticipate these changes having any effect on the number of applicants or permits approved. These changes simply make the process less onerous.” He also said in his statement that “the standard for approval, and the steps required, have not changed at all. All of the same training, demonstrated proficiency ... are exactly the same.”
Jones declined an interview request, instead issuing the written statement.
The Sacramento County sheriff ’s policy of rapidly issuing concealed carry permits is controversial. He maintains that letting law-abiding citizens carry concealed weapons protects the public and frightens criminals. Critics counter that issuing thousands of the permits puts the public at risk.
“There is no evidence whatsoever that carrying a CCW makes the person carrying the weapon safer or their community safer,” said Dr. Bill Durston, president of Americans Against Gun Violence.
A Bee analysis earlier this year found that at least 78 people with Jones-issued permits were subsequently arrested and had their permits revoked. The arrests represented a tiny portion of the county’s 8,000 permit holders.
Permit holders were arrested for crimes at a rate far below the general public. But 14 permit holders were arrested on felony charges, including a charge of attempted murder involving a firearm and a charge of peddling automatic weapons and poison over the internet.