Key Takeaways
- San Jose raised its initial CCW application fee to $1,591, making it the most expensive in California.
- Total costs for first-time applicants exceed $2,000 when including state fees and additional requirements.
- The fee is part of a steady increase over the past two and a half years, rising roughly $300 since early 2024.
- Legal challenges are looming, with lawsuits questioning the constitutionality of such high fees.
- San Jose’s renewal fee is notably low at $25, suggesting that the initial fee is primarily a barrier to application.
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SAN JOSE, CA — The most expensive place in California to ask permission to carry a firearm just got more expensive. On July 1, the San Jose Police Department raised its initial CCW application fee to $1,591, with 20 percent ($318) due when the application is filed and the remaining $1,273 due upon issuance.
That figure is the city’s fee alone. According to SJPD’s own fee schedule, city fees are in addition to applicable state fees under Penal Code 26185 and 26190, which run $93 for a standard CCW, and applicants pay a psychological exam and a required CCW training course directly to vendors. Stack it all up and a first-time applicant in San Jose is looking at well over $2,000 to exercise a constitutional right.
The July 1 change is an increase, not a new policy. Bearing Arms reported days before the hike that the city was already charging $1,491 and that the rate would rise to $1,591 on July 1. The climb has been steady. The Reload reported the fee at $1,290 in January 2024, and a February 2025 pre-litigation demand letter from the California Rifle and Pistol Association put it at $1,328. That is roughly a $300 jump in about two and a half years.
For perspective, San Jose’s own schedule shows a retail firearms dealer pays $1,655 for an initial business license. The city now charges a private citizen nearly as much to carry a handgun for personal protection as it charges a gun store to open its doors.
How does the department justify it? When The Reload asked about an earlier increase, an SJPD spokesperson pointed to a “time-task analysis model” that prices the permit based on staff hours. In other words, the city says this is simply what it costs to process an application.
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That defense has a problem, and the Supreme Court named it. In Bruen, the Court warned that even shall-issue permitting schemes can be challenged where lengthy wait times or exorbitant fees deny ordinary citizens their right to public carry. A fee does not become constitutional just because a spreadsheet says it reflects labor costs. If the price walls ordinary people out, the right is being denied.
The legal pressure is building next door. CRPA and the Second Amendment Foundation are suing Santa Clara County over its $976 initial application fee, and CRPA’s demand letter singled out San Jose’s fee as unconstitutionally high even while noting the city’s $25 renewal is far cheaper than the county’s. A win against Santa Clara County would put San Jose’s schedule squarely in the crosshairs.
One more detail worth sitting with. San Jose’s renewal fee is $25. The city has effectively conceded that keeping a vetted permit holder licensed costs almost nothing. The $1,591 toll is loaded entirely onto the front door, which is exactly where a fee does the most work discouraging people from applying at all.
No other constitutional right works this way. Nobody pays the city $1,591 before speaking, worshiping, or voting. I will keep tracking San Jose’s fee schedule and the CRPA and SAF litigation that could finally bring it down.
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