One Difficulty “May Issue” Concealed Handgun Laws: California Santa Clara County Sheriff Smith accused of selling Concealed Handgun permit licenses for campaign donations
With the US Supreme Court considering New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, this type of corruption is relevant. Obviously, people want to get permits. This also shows the arbitrariness of how permits are given out in at least some of these May Issue jurisdictions.
Jon Golinger, an investigator for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office – which oversaw the civil grand jury because of conflicts cited by Santa Clara County’s counsel and district attorney offices – testified that an analysis of records showed that between late 2015 and early 2019, just 36 of 248 new CCW applicants were granted licenses, a 14.5% approval rate. But of the ten donors who applied, nine were approved — a 90% success rate.
More information on the problems with “May Issue” concealed handgun permits is available in our annual reports on permitting in the United States.
