Los Angeles has roughly 17,000 active concealed carry weapon permits across its two issuing agencies as of the most recent reporting. The Los Angeles Police Department reported about 1,700 active permits within the City of Los Angeles as of June 2024. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has approved around 15,000 applications covering unincorporated areas and the cities it contracts with. Three years earlier, the city total was four.
The Current Count
Two agencies issue CCW permits in Los Angeles, and the split matters because they cover very different populations.
The LAPD covers the City of Los Angeles and its roughly 3.8 million residents. Before 2022, it had four active CCW permits. By June 2024 the active count exceeded 1,700, with approximately 5,800 additional applicants on a waitlist that the department’s small CCW unit has struggled to work through.
The LASD covers unincorporated Los Angeles County and the dozens of cities that contract with the Sheriff for law enforcement, a much larger footprint. It had approved roughly 15,000 applications and was working through about 4,000 active cases as of late 2024. Its own published figures show it continued issuing more than a thousand permits per month into early 2026.1Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Carry a Concealed Weapon Licensing – CCW
Add the two together and Los Angeles County has gone from a near-total absence of permits in practice to around 17,000 approved licenses in about three years. Residents of other incorporated cities with their own police departments (Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Long Beach, and so on) apply through those departments, so their permits sit outside both of the figures above.
Why the Numbers Exploded
The shift traces to a single Supreme Court decision. In June 2022, the Court decided New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, striking down New York’s requirement that applicants show “proper cause” (a specific, documented need) before receiving a concealed carry license.2Supreme Court of the United States. New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen The ruling held that ordinary, law-abiding citizens have a constitutional right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense without proving any special need.
California had an almost identical requirement, called “good cause.” Los Angeles agencies had interpreted it so narrowly that permits were effectively unavailable to most residents, which is how a city of nearly four million people ended up with four permits. Bruen knocked out that barrier, and applications poured in.
The state formalized the change the following year. Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 2 in September 2023, removing the old “good cause” and “good moral character” standards and replacing them with a defined list of disqualifying factors.3California Legislative Information. California Senate Bill 2 – Firearms Under the new system, the licensing authority must issue a permit to anyone who meets the statutory criteria and is not disqualified. That shift from discretionary denial to mandatory issuance is what the raw numbers reflect.
The Number Behind the Number: Backlogs
The 17,000 figure counts approvals, not demand. Demand has run well ahead of what either agency can process.
The LAPD’s waitlist of about 5,800 means a sizable share of city residents who want permits have not yet been able to formally apply, let alone finish the process. Both agencies have faced processing delays exceeding 18 months for many applicants. Some LAPD applicants have waited more than a year just to begin the formal application.
The backlog has drawn federal attention. The U.S. Department of Justice opened a “pattern or practice” investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over excessive wait times and fees for concealed carry licenses.4U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. Department of Justice Announces Second Amendment Pattern or Practice Investigation In its response, LASD pointed to a CCW unit staffed by only 14 people handling thousands of applications. The investigation is ongoing and could change how the department processes permits, which would in turn affect how fast approved-permit totals climb.
If both agencies cleared their backlogs at current pace, the countywide total would move substantially higher. The 17,000 figure is best read as a snapshot of a system still catching up, not a steady-state number.
Which Agency Covers Where You Live
Where you live determines which agency’s totals you fall under, and which one would process an application from you.
The LASD issues permits to residents of unincorporated Los Angeles County and the contract cities it polices. First-time applicants must live within those contract cities or unincorporated communities.1Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Carry a Concealed Weapon Licensing – CCW The LAPD handles applications for people who live within the City of Los Angeles. Residents of other incorporated cities with their own police departments apply through those local departments, and their permits are tracked by those agencies rather than LAPD or LASD.
Both LAPD and LASD apply the same state-law criteria. What differs is staffing, workflow, and wait time, which is why the two agencies’ active counts have grown at very different rates.
Where to Find Current Figures
Permit totals change month to month, especially while both agencies work through backlogs. The LASD publishes CCW statistics on its licensing page, including issuance volume, and updates them regularly.1Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Carry a Concealed Weapon Licensing – CCW The LAPD does not publish its CCW figures as prominently, and the June 2024 numbers cited above are the most recent reliable count. For the city, totals have typically been reported through public records requests and periodic news coverage rather than a live dashboard.
One boundary worth naming: these counts are permits, not permit holders in a strict sense, and they do not include law enforcement officers who carry under separate authority or people carrying unlawfully. They also do not include permits issued by neighboring agencies in the broader Southern California region. If you are trying to gauge how many of your neighbors are legally carrying, the LAPD and LASD figures are the right starting point for Los Angeles proper, but they stop at the agencies’ jurisdictional lines.