Necessary information when applying, especially for a non-Green county (on CA CCW GC map)
OPENING
The Contra Costa County (CoCoCo) Sheriff’s Office (SO) is issuing CCWs for “Heightened Good Cause” (GC) – yellow on the CA CCW GC map (see post #3 below). We haven’t won CoCoCo since it is not green. A year ago CoCoCo had just under 300 active 2-yr Carry Concealed Weapons permits (CCWs). With suitable outreach and the information in this thread, you guys could make it 10x that – 3,000 CCWers in just a few years. While you may still not qualify, the more people who get issued now means fewer applicants will be clogging up the application process if we win a Right to Bear Arms in federal court (by 2022 July 01). Plus, hopefully, as time goes by and Sheriff Livingston has few, if any, problems with CCWers, he may loosen up his GC standard to light green, issuing for risks due to recreation or hobbies (like 3-gun matches), or other risks that are avoidable (like walking alone along isolated beaches, hiking, backpacking), where a lot more people will qualify.
This post is to provide law-abiding CoCoCo gun owners with insight into the process to determine whether they would qualify under Sheriff Livingston’s current Good Cause standard. I’ve spent almost 50 hours over the past few weeks in making this. (N.B. I do not live in CoCoCo.) I read almost 400 posts going back to 2015 Jan 01 (#674), separating out posts re. applying using self defense/personal protection that depended upon winning the Peruta case, from those not depending upon it and using more substantial Good Cause. My guess is that, for whatever reason, Livingston loosened his GC standard slightly about 1 to 2 years ago.
I received input from several CGNers who’ve gotten CoCoCo CCWs. Most have been CGN members for several years and have made several thousand of posts, so I trust them. Only one had been a member for just under 2 years and has made under 100 posts but what they shared was consistent with the others. From all of them I learned what worked for them and over a dozen other people and what didn’t for three.
PRELIMINARY MATTER (Extremely important!!!)
(1) Concealed Carry in California is not about the federal Constitution’s 2nd Amendment “Right to Keep & Bear Arms”. The Ninth Circuit en banc in Peruta said there is no 2nd A Right to Concealed Carry (and SCOTUS declined to review that decision). What you’re applying for is a CCW license to exercise a privilege under California state law. That’s the perspective of the sheriffs and chiefs because that’s the current state of the law for California. Make it your perspective when applying, even though you may believe it is wrong. Bringing up the 2nd Amendment won’t get you anywhere and will just annoy them. Don’t do it.
(2) Concealed Carry requires a license (CCW) under CA state law. When you hear “license” (or “permit”) think “permission slip”. You are requesting a permission slip to exercise a privilege of legally concealed carrying a handgun. This sucks and sounds unconstitutional, but it’s the current state of the law. Thank God Trump is president so SCOTUS should fix this sorry state of affairs. But don’t expect the sheriff to fix it – he’s in law enforcement. He’s not into making or judging laws. Don’t try to debate the point. Even if you win, you won’t win.
(3) A CA CCW is a May Issue license, not Shall Issue. Getting a driver’s license at the DMV is Shall Issue. There you can wear a pro marijuana T-shirt, hippie shorts and flip-flops and sneer down your nose ring at the DMV Lady and still get your license. Not so here. When you hear “May Issue”, think “Mother may I?” That should be your attitude because that’s the power the sheriff has over whether he grants you a CCW or not. Don’t like it? Don’t apply. Once again: this is not about getting to carry under our federal Constitution’s 2nd A, but under our state’s statutory law. So far, as far as the 9th Circuit is concerned, we don’t have a RBA to Concealed Carry under the 2nd A (Peruta) and they’re still figuring out what to decide re. Open Carry (Young, Nichols and Flanagan cases). If you want to legally carry now, you have to play by the rules of the game as they are now. Otherwise, just wait until the federal courts sort things out.
If you only want to carry under the 2nd A, don’t apply for a CA CCW permit and remain unarmed in public in CA for a year or more until the federal courts decide what public carry right is enshrined in the 2nd A. (Will it be OC? CC? both? loaded? w/o permit or can a permit be required?) This thread is for those who’d rather CC under our state’s permitting scheme until then. I keep harping on this because we, on CGN, are always talking about the 2nd A and various court battles over it. It will be easy for you to slip back into that way of thinking during your permit application process and talking during the interview — DON’T!!!
THE SHERIFF’S POSSE
I address this first only because it is the source of much rumor, speculation and innuendo. In fact, it is the least important of my main points.
Some knew the Sheriff from the Posse, others didn’t and aren’t even members.
Joining the Posse requires endorsing signatures of two current Posse members. In a sense, they vouch for your character, giving the sheriff more confidence that you’re normal/stable/responsible/mature. If you don’t normally travel in those social circles, meeting and getting to know two members well enough to vouch for you can be a significant hurdle. Even if you do, you have to wait for an opening to join, and simply being a member is not sufficient. (Yes, more than one person joined just to get a CCW and still got denied.) If you regularly attend their events, you’ll eventually meet the sheriff and he’ll get to know you outside of the CCW app process. Then, when your application comes across the his desk, you’re not “a stranger off of the street” to him. Neither extortion or bribery are involved, but it does smack of elitism & cronyism. (What chance does a poor, single mother who lives in a crime ridden section of Richmond, doesn’t have a car, takes public transportation to her two jobs, has been attacked more than once and raped have of getting two sponsors to join the Posse?) Posse membership is $100/year. List it on a separate page of general info about you, along with other charitable work.
Meeting the sheriff one-on-one at a Posse event might take a year or more. Unless you’re into hobnobbing, entering golf tournaments, formal dinners and you’d want to join regardless of getting a CCW, it may not be worth the time, money and effort involved since it isn’t a sure bet and isn’t necessary, even though it can help. https://www.cocoposse.com/
Bottom line: joining the Posse could help you, but is not necessary if your GMC (Good Moral Character), GC and Interview are solid by the Sheriff’s standard.
GOOD MORAL CHARACTER
Best is clean criminal background check: no misdemeanors or felonies. Ideally, you haven’t had any contact with LEOs for “drama,” even if there were no charges (domestic disturbance calls, auto accidents, etc), or they get dismissed/dropped.
What can you do to help the sheriff determine that you have GMC? Do you support law enforcement charities, do volunteer work (local animal shelter, homeless shelter, suicide help line, clinics, youth mentor programs, retirement homes, etc.)? Attach on a separate sheet of paper. Can you provide reference letters from those organization, or from other people the Sheriff would respect? None of this is required, but nothing is refused. Show that you are a “pillar of the community”, invested in the community, and of exemplary, not just good, moral character. All this will help the SO in their assessment of your character. The Sheriff says he evaluates “the whole person” in making his decision. You don’t want your “whole person” to just say "Self Defense.”
Look at the causes that the Posse Charity funds to find the organizations the sheriff obviously approves of. https://www.cocoposse.com/sheriff-s-charities#!
An alternative to the Posse could be the 100 Club where Livingston is on the board. http://100clubcontracostacounty.org/
GOOD CAUSE
Treat the application like a resume (no mistakes, no misspellings, etc) and treat your GC statement like a writing sample for a job application. It should be “cogent and concise” (every word should have a purpose, a reason for being there), and “well thought out and presented”. It is your one chance to talk directly to Sheriff Livingston re. why he should permit you to carry a gun, and it’s his only chance to size you up, beyond just what you’re trying to convey with it about Good Cause per se. List your GC justifications as bullet points from most important to least. Each bullet point should be only a short paragraph (a few sentences at most). Have a logical order of the phrases within each sentence and the sentences within each paragraph. Make your thoughts flow linearly from beginning to end. Check your grammar, punctuation and spelling. Work on it, refine it, over a week or two since it is your only chance to talk directly to the sheriff. Be prepared to discuss your GC justifications with the interviewer.
Continued below!
Put yourself in the sheriff’s shoes. You’d ask yourself, “Is this the kind of person that I am willing to stick my neck out for by issuing them a permit to carry a gun in public?” If you don’t meet this standard now, don’t apply now. Get organized, get your life together, clean up your act and apply after that. Until then, just obey the 4-Stupids Rule (avoid Stupid people, avoid going to Stupid places, avoid doing Stupid things, and avoid being out at Stupid times), exercise situational awareness, and carry pepper spray. The sheriff doesn’t want to arm Drama Queens — that’s just asking for trouble (and political fallout). Remember: we should win a robust 2nd A “Right to Bear Arms” by SCOTUS by 2022 July 01, esp since Ginsburg got replaced.
MISCELLANEOUS
ALL of the CGNers or other CoCoCo CCWers they know (either personally, from IDPA or from SO class/qualification), were in their late 20s or older.
6 to 8 weeks after the interview you’ll get a decision.
No one mentioned having to get a psychological assessment or hearing of anyone having to. My guess is if it’s that close, they just “err on the safe side” and deny you.
No one had a residence check, so you probably don’t have to worry about them telling your anti-2nd Amendment neighbors you’re applying for a CCW.
Some didn’t donate to the sheriff’s campaign or to the Posse. Some did to one or the other. One donated to Posse before and after getting issued and to his campaign after getting issued (out of thanks and to keep Livingston in office).
Download the application form instead of just printing it so you can fill in the fields on your computer before printing it, versus just printing it out and using a typewriter or filling it out by hand. That way it looks more polished and you can spend time crafting your statements to your liking.
Some live in affluent areas, others don’t.
Some listed, among other GC reasons, “self defense” while others felt even mentioning that was a negative.
Avoid going too far off on tangents (e.g., politics, current events) during the interview unless the interviewer leads you there. Don’t talk yourself out of a CCW.
Participate in CoCoCo IDPA events (Richmond HotShots), to meet CoCoCo CCWers and get direct input from them re. the process. They might be willing to review your app and GC statement prior to submission.
ETA: Be sure to list any active/reserve military duty, LE/reserves, and shooting training, RSO, competitive shooting, etc, not for GC, but as part of your GMC, to show that you are trained, competent, trustworthy and safe for public carry. So just briefly list it, but do not focus on it. They’ll ask about it during the interview if they want more details.
IN CLOSING
Remember: CoCoCo is 50% Dem and only 22% Repub — the sheriff is an elected official and the local media and most of his constituents (aka voters) are liberals. He can’t get too far ahead of his voters. If a CCWer did a questionable shoot or was involved in a road rage shooting and the media showed their GC was weak or just “self defense,” the MSM would try to blame Livingston, he might get replaced at the next election and CoCoCo could go Dark Red. While the sheriff may not be held legally liable for issuing someone a CCW, until we get a state “Shall Issue” CCW statute from Sacto and/or a federal Constitutional RBA from CA9 or SCOTUS the press and voters may hold him politically liable for it.
Yellow still means the average law-abiding resident cannot get a CCW, but if you have elevated GC (regularly make large cash deposits or transport valuable or dangerous items for your business, or you’ve had threats against you or are particularly vulnerable to attack), and everything else is clean, you should be able to get one. It only costs the amount of a LiveScan to find out and a denial for insufficient GC won’t hurt your chances in the future.
As I read what was sent to me, I saw a few GCs that indicated that CoCoCo is light green and others that it is still light red, but most made me think it was yellow. What that means is: (1) I am confident it is currently yellow. (2) But remember, even if your GC fits yellow, you may get denied. (3) If your GC fits light green (risks due to recreational activities or hobbies) and your background check, GMC and interview are all excellent, even you MAY get issued. Go for it if you can afford to waste the time, money (LiveScan fee) and effort involved. Remember the Sheriff can loosen or tighten his GC standard anytime he wants. You won’t know if you can pass until you apply.
If you do apply, after you’ve been approved or denied, please post your experience so others can learn from it. (But don’t be so specific that you can be identified by what you post.) If you want to remain even more anonymous, PM me it and I’ll post it for you under my username just saying it was from another CGNer.
“Stay Calm and Carry On.”
Here’s a link to CoCoCo SO’s CCW webpage: http://www.cocosheriff.org/howdoi/ccw_permit.htm