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Is there any benefit to applying with Santa Clara instead of Campbell?My CCW permit Diary
CCW Permit Process Overview
CCW requirements vary by jurisdiction but must conform to a framework dictated by the State. Currently that framework is the bill “SB2”, which is facing numerous legal challenges, some of which have been successful. Each county sheriff and every city can issue a CCW permit. Example: I live in Campbell. I can apply to the city of Campbell or the County of Santa Clara. They all have somewhat different rules as to number of guns, caliber, differences in training like the addition of a psychological interview, cost, course of fire for qualifying, and other variables. You have two choices; the city where you live or the county where you live.
The state has some mandated basics including three guns maximum and 16 hours of instruction some of which is qualifying at a shooting range with your chosen guns. Instructors must be approved by the DOJ which means police firearms instructors. Your permit is good for 2 years and then must be renewed. The renewal process involves some classroom and some range qualifying, for a total of 8 hours, but no background investigation or psych testing. I applied to the Santa Clara County Sheriff for my permit.
The Basic Sequence of Events:
1) Sign up on Permitium website for Santa Clara County Sheriff
2) Check back frequently for closer available interview dates
3) In person interview at Sheriff Dept.
4) Written Psych tests
5) Online psych interview
6) Livescan finger printing
7) 16 hours of class and range training. You have choice of several approved trainers
8) Upload certificate and signed proficiency document
9) Reference check
10) Permit is granted
My Experience with Santa Clara Sheriff Office CCW Process:
DATE ACTIVITY COST NOTE 4/13/24 Online Santa Clara County Sheriff CCW 345.02 Filled out application on Permitium website. Interview appointment for 5/3/2025. Over 1 year away! Your permit will be for up to 3 guns. You must list the guns, with serial numbers, that you will carry. Upload CDL and utility bills. 4/23/24 Reschedule interview to 7/2/24 0 Checked back daily for sooner interview opening and rescheduled for 7/2/24. This was a piece of very good luck! 7/2/24 CCW Interview with Sheriff 0 30-minute interview at sheriff dept. Questions include app review plus discussion of any past conflict incidents or police contact, job firings and past marriages. Plenty of parking. Pleasant interview. 8/7/24 Found old LEPS 7/15/24 email in spam. This sat in spam for about 3 weeks! 0 Searched spam folder for “LEPS” came up with amateur looking $500 cost, sign up email for CCW psych test. Thought it was fake so wrote to SCCSO and found out it was real! Signed up for Zoom meeting on 8/12. Lesson learned: Search SPAM for “LEPS” and the cost is (since AB2) $500. Sherrif replied quickly to my inquiry. 8/8/24 Signed up for Zoom written psych test 500.00 Upload CDL copy and had to answer a few online questions about drinking and racial conflict. Zoom monitored written exam scheduled for 8/12/24 at 8 AM. You need a quiet place with good internet connection. 8/12/24 Online written psych test(s) 0 Logged in for online Zoom testing at 8AM. There were 10-12 of us and we could see each other. You could DM the proctor with questions. You cannot leave the test.
There were 4 tests. Three were very similar and all tests mainly asked questions about aggression, alcohol, depression and theft. Read carefully, a quick read could cause you to get the wrong meaning for the question. I finished way sooner than the 5 hours allowed. Got scheduling email later in the day and have an online psych interview scheduled on 8/19.8/19/24 MS Teams online psych interview. 0 About 30 minutes talking with a nice young woman who was the psychologist. Some initial problems with MS Teams audio. Basic questions about your life and past. Any arrests, childhood abuse, domestic violence, getting fired, driving problems, accidents, etc. Pleasant experience. 8/23/24 Psych Okay and Livescan 123.00 Received an email from Sheriff / Permitium that I had passed the psych evaluation and can submit my fingerprint Livescan. The email had a link to complete the Livescan form. The Sheriff does livescans for $66 but is booked weeks out. I printed the form and went to Meridian Live Scan in San Jose. The woman there was very familiar with the process and wait times. At the live scan your scan will be assigned an ATI Number. Be sure to keep this number because you can track your progress with it. The Livescan check is three parts: CA, FBI and Firearms. You can see the progress online. 8/26/24 Scheduled class with Sabre Tactics 399.00 Even though the firearms portion of my Livescan is not cleared I signed up and scheduled Sabre because they are booking far out. Allowing 30 days for DOJ Firearms and two weeks for Sheriff response, I figured 10/24 was a good date which would give me 2 weeks leeway if something goes wrong. I can move Saber range qualification if need be. 8/27/24 Livescan Firearms completed Livescan has three parts CA, FBI and Firearms. CA and FBI cleared the same day as the scan. I checked the DOJ web site, and the Firearms section was completed today, 8/27. That completes live scan. All background checks are done and passed. 8/30/24 Re-scheduled range qualification for 9/28 and paid range fee 40.00 Re-scheduled final training to 9/28/24 ahead of hearing from Sheriff. Could be a problem if notice to proceed is delayed. Range fee of $40 is in addition to class fee. 9/4/24 Email from SCCSO telling me that my livescan is okay and I now have 90 days to complete my required 16-hour training which includes range qualification. Reminded me to be sure to use one of the “SB2” approved trainers. I was previously able to move my 4-hour range day to 9/28/24 and will take my 12-hour classroom portion online with Sabre Tactics. The email was from “AutoPermitium” 9/4-13/24 Online classroom 12-hour training Took the 12-hour classroom portion of the Saber Tactics 16-hour program. The lectures and videos are online, and you view them sequentially. The material was good and even though I have another state CCW I learned stuff. The training is geared towards a person with little CCW familiarity, which is good. I especially liked the use of force sessions and the holster information. I found the online format beneficial because I could do it at my own pace when I had the time, and I could also go back and re-view things I wanted more clarification on. I did this several times. There is a test at the end. Passing is 80% if I remember correctly. 9/28/24 Range qualification Saber Tactics 4-hour range qualification at Los Altos Rod and Gun Club. About 20 people from 4 different jurisdictions were at the training. For Santa Clara County our course of fire to qualify for CCW was 25 rounds per firearm as follows: 5 rounds at 15 yards, 2 sets of 5 rounds at 7 yards, and 2 sets of 5 rounds at 5 yards. “Passing” is 80% in the 7 ring of a B-27 target. You need to be able to carry 25 rounds in magazines or speed loaders. I used five magazines and five speed loaders which made the course of fire much easier without in process reloads. You are timed but the time limits are very generous.
You get a lot of safety training and excellent instruction on garment clearing, holstering, footwork and a lot of other stuff. Our instructor was a SWAT instructor. The quality of the session was excellent. They will send the completion paperwork by email which I must then print out, sign in blue ink, and upload to Permitium.10/1/24 Certificates Arrive Received certs in email, printed, signed in blue ink, scanned and uploaded to my permitium account. 10/2/24 SCCSO calls references They called all three references in the afternoon. They connected with one, left a message with another and the call was faulty (no sound) on the third. They did not call back the faulty call. The call comes from 408-808-4942 10/4/2024 Reference Checks Completed and final payment 340.92 Automated message telling me my permit is approved. Log into Permitium and pay my final fee. After paying I will be told how to get my permit. They had called the other references minutes before the message. Paid and am waiting for pickup instructions. 10/8/24 Picked up permit About 10 minutes. My impression of the process is that, other than being much too long, it was a pleasant experience. There was no obstruction or passive resistance, the people I had contact with were pleasant, easy to deal with and focused on the goal. Elapsed time 4/14/24 to 9/8/24 Total cost $1,747.94 Yikes!
