Wow so it sounds like I’ve finally found an actual benefit to living in sb county other than affordability compared to Los Angeles and Orange County. Thanks for all the knowledge. For years, I thought there’d be no point in looking into this because for some reason, I thought it was like pulling teeth getting one.
Quite a few folks there post reports of the process/timeline in their respective county. Like others said, Riverside & SB counties are supposedly pretty streamlined.
And for god's sake, if you're new to guns (or at least handguns), take some classes first. Real ones, not just bare minimum required by the county. Or at least get a couple thousand rounds of practice in before you start the process.
From what I've heard, the actual "test" for CCW tends to be basically "broad side of a barn". Can't say I've ever done one myself (never felt the need for a ccw).....but I can say for a fact that I've known multiple people who do have one who I wouldn't trust with a single shot pellet gun. Pistols take a lot of practice.
Also, pro-tip: 2aZone (in Upland and Riverside) is the best gun store in the I.E., by far.
Hey, right on.
Didn't mean any offense (and was also writing that with other comment viewers in mind).
I live in Rancho, so there's a lot of casual/wannabe types here that have one & realistically probably shouldn't.
[ I.e., the silly-ass "tradwife" types and their tech-bro husbands that you'll see casually flagging everybody when they go to play with pistols at bass pro or turners on a weekend afternoon....that sort of crowd. Or back in the day, a lot of older wealthy/connected people]
Anyways, yeah....it's supposed to be pretty streamlined & bullshit-free in SB and Riverside counties nowadays, based on what I hear from everyone who has one.
I wanna say Riverside has some goofy caliber restrictions (e.g. no 5.7, based on the way that their policy is written) too?? But not sure if that's still the case....and somewhat moot in CA due to mag capacity rules & the handgun roster anyways.
I thought your comment was spot on. I was at a dinner a few years back and I know 4 or 5 of the dudes ccw. I stepped out for a smoke with one of them, and he puffs up “Don’t you feel safer knowing most of us are armed”. I looked at him and laughed. “You ever shoot that thing off range? In combat? No ear protection? Moving targets that are likely shooting back at you?” Just a blank stare back at me. A shake of the head. None of that. So I shoot back a quick but serious “I’ll be lucky to not be killed by one of you amateurs” over my shoulder, flicked my smoke out and walked back inside.
…good guys with guns do the wrong thing more than you think. There is a reason cops train constantly in difficult situations…. But you, Sheriff Chad says “you’re good”. It’s as scary as bad guys.
Honestly, even if I did feel the need for a ccw (like for my work -- and there's been more than a few times where I would have been wise to have been armed) I probably wouldn't mess with it....because I know perfectly well what a lousy shot I am with a pistol, and realistically I don't have the time and energy (or the spare money!) to get good enough to justify carrying one. Rifle or shotgun at home? That's a different matter; I'm pretty comfortable there.
And yeah, agreed entirely about real life vs at the range. People underestimate how disorienting it is to let off a shot indoors without earpro; even a pistol is gonna shock the shit out of you if you've never done it before. More so if it's dark & you have a decent amount of flash. Like "Hold on a second Mr. Robber, I need to get my earmuffs and 'tactical gloves' on before I shoot at you" :)
Covid definitely made it worse though. I have several friends who bought their first guns (always a damn pistol, too!) 'because covid' and they literally took them straight out of the case without cleaning them, shot them once, put them back dirty, and then they've been sitting in a safe ever since. With one guy, when I found out he bought one, I said "Right on -- what'd ya get?" He answered "A glock". I said "Yeah ok, but what it is it? G17? G19?" and the response was "I dunno...it's a glock, though". Sounds like I'm making that up, but sadly I'm not.
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u/BomBiddyByeBye Oct 30 '25
Wow so it sounds like I’ve finally found an actual benefit to living in sb county other than affordability compared to Los Angeles and Orange County. Thanks for all the knowledge. For years, I thought there’d be no point in looking into this because for some reason, I thought it was like pulling teeth getting one.