LA Concealed Carry Permits up 42,000% since 2022

Residents of LA County are taking responsibility for their own safety as residents flock to apply for concealed carry permits. Thanks to a Supreme Court ruling, the number of concealed carry permits in LA County has surged more than 42,000%. Here’s the full story.

LA Concealed Carry Permits Up 42,000% Since 2022

Before May of 2022, there were only four people in LA County with active concealed carry permits. Today, that number has surged to more than 1,700 people. That’s an increase of about 42,000%..

Another 5,800 Angelinos currently await their approval in the state’s backlog. The LAPD has said that they can process about 170 applications per month. At that rate, it’ll take almost three years to complete the backlog of concealed carry permits in LA County.

The Context

It’s no coincidence that concealed carry permits skyrocketed in LA County since 2022. That’s the year that the Supreme Court ruled in the historic New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen.

The Bruen decision essentially determinend that carrying a weapon in public was not a “second-class right.” As a result, many jurisdictions had to reassess their concealed carry permitting process.

LA County was one such area. Under LA County’s previous laws, a concealed carry applicant needed to show “good cause” to receive their permit. This functionally limited concealed carry permit holders to former judges and police officers.

Now, the barriers to entry are much lower. To receive a concealed carry permit in LA County today, an applicant only needs to be over the age of 21 and complete a training course. They also need to be able to pass a background check, and they can’t be addicted to drugs or alcohol. The requirements are pretty similar to the federal requirements for buying a gun in the first place.

The Bottom Line

I’ve always said that an armed society is a polite society. And since sources report that gun crime is down in LA since 2022, the data appears to support that philosophy.

It’s always a good thing whenever someone decides to take their safety into their own hands. They’re helping save law enforcement resources for people who really need it, which protects the most vulnerable people in our society.

This kind of growth in concealed carry permit holsters is impossible to sustain. While the number of permit holders may be up 1,700 since 2022, the LAPD has only seen about 250 applications in all of 2024. Still, this change is encouraging to see.