Everybody knows the police in San Fran are just for show—and even then there are not enough of them to make a difference. Add to that the cops are called racist and can be sued if the arrest criminals, who happen to be the wrong sex, color or gender identifier. Now thanks to the Supreme Court citizens are allowed to protect themselves.
“The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office has received 45 concealed carry weapons permit applications in the weeks following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association vs. Bruen. The department typically sees just two concealed carry permit applications each year, a spokesperson said.
The high court’s decision has prompted the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office this month to issue new policies to keep up with the pace of permit applications and to ensure that it grants CCWs “only to applicants who are law-abiding, responsible persons.”
The 45 permits are only the start. As folks realize they do not have a government to protect them, they will protect themselves
Concealed carry gun applications surged in San Francisco after Bruen decision
By Benjamin Schneider and Sydney Johnson, SF Examiner, 9/13/22
San Francisco has seen a dramatic spike in applications to carry a gun in public since the U.S. Supreme Court loosened the eligibility requirements for such permits less than three months ago.
The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office has received 45 concealed carry weapons permit applications in the weeks following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association vs. Bruen. The department typically sees just two concealed carry permit applications each year, a spokesperson said.
The high court’s decision has prompted the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office this month to issue new policies to keep up with the pace of permit applications and to ensure that it grants CCWs “only to applicants who are law-abiding, responsible persons.”
The surge in concealed carry applications demonstrates the immediate impact of the Supreme Court’s rightward turn, even in liberal San Francisco. City and state officials who have advocated strict forms of gun control have no choice but to follow the Court’s ruling. As a result, more people will be allowed to carry guns in public in San Francisco.
CCW permits allow licensed individuals to carry a small firearm, like a pistol or a revolver, on their person and out of sight in public spaces. It also allows licensed individuals to keep a gun unlocked in their car. It is still prohibited for CCW license holders to carry a weapon in some places in California, including schools, courthouses and bars.
Until the Bruen decision, California required all CCW applicants to demonstrate a “good cause” for carrying a gun, usually a “clear and present danger” to oneself or one’s family. As a result, few people sought these permits, especially in San Francisco.
But the June 23rd U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down that rule, by overturning a similar New York gun safety law. The ruling also prohibits local authorities from denying CCW permits based on subjective criteria beyond a background check, known as “may issue” laws.
In addition, the Supreme Court’s decision orders lower federal courts to use a new test in determining whether gun laws are constitutional or not. The new test essentially requires gun restrictions to have a historical analog to the time period between 1791, the year the Second Amendment was ratified, to about 1868, the year the 14th Amendment was ratified.
As a result of the decision, some of California’s restrictions on who can carry guns in public places were deemed unconstitutional.
“It is the Attorney General’s view that the court’s decision renders California’s good cause standard to secure a permit to carry a concealed weapon in most public places unconstitutional,” Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote following the Bruen decision. “Permitting agencies may no longer require a demonstration of good cause.”
Local and state agencies can still enforce other components of California’s gun laws, such as taking fingerprints and requiring background checks and gun safety training.
The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office’s new policies seek to codify the gun control rules it is still allowed to enforce. CCW applicants in The City must pass a psychological test, a background check and a gun safety training course. The Sheriff’s Office will also review criminal history and other factors to determine whether the applicant is “of good moral character.”
The policy states that the Sheriff’s Office must process CCW applications within 90 days, or 30 days after receiving the background check results, whichever is later.
The increase in requests for concealed carry weapons permits follows a notable uptick in fatal and nonfatal shooting incidents reported by the San Francisco Police Department in recent years.
Citywide, there were 222 gun violence victims in 2021, up from 167 in 2020 and 137 in 2019.
That trend matches a national uptick in homicides, which increased 28% from 2018 to 2020, the largest increase ever recorded, according to Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, assistant professor in the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis.
Growth in firearm purchases often correlate to real or perceived increases in crime. In 2020, Californians were more likely to report being somewhat or very worried about violence compared to before the pandemic, according to the statewide California Safety and Wellbeing Survey that Kravitz-Wirtz directs.
“We have seen during this period an equally unprecedented increase in firearm purchasing that really began with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued through now,” Kravitz-Wirtz said.
