Antioch City Council Agrees to Increase CCW Fees

On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council agreed to update its Master Fee Schedule for Carry Concealed Weapons License (CCW) within the City of Antioch.

In a 3-0 vote, the council adopted an updated structure for CCW license fees to replace the existing “Gun Permit Fees” within the Master Fee Schedule. Under SB2, cities can now increase their fees to recoup costs. Here is the new cost:

• $261.50 – New Permit Initial Fee
• $261.50 – Issuance Fee
• $455.00 – Renewal Permit
• $64.00 – Amended Permit
• $30.00 – Duplicate

*Note – It should be noted that proposed fee reflects only what the City of Antioch Police Department will be charging and there will be other associated costs borne solely by the applicant, including fees charged by the California Department of Justice, Livescan (fingerprinting), cost of required training, psychological screening, etc.

The goal of the updated fee is intended to recoup administrative costs so there is little to no impact on Antioch’s general fund.

Antioch Police Captain Desmond Bittner shared for the past 20-years, the Chief of Police has issued CCW, however, in 2023, the City of Antioch entered an agreement with the Contra Costa County Sheriffs Office to have the sheriff review the CCW – it went on for 18-months.

By November of 2024, Antioch received notice the sheriff was going to stop reviewing applications from Antioch—including the City of Concord, City of Pittsburg and City of Richmond.

“We are all going to have to start reviewing our own CCW applications starting as of now,” stated Bittner.

According to Bittner, when they began reviewing the administrative process it became clear it was time consuming. Software is also needed to help move the process along, collect fees and track applications.   He added prior to SB 2, there was a cap on fees that departments could charge for CCW’s – it was right around $100 which was set when there was a cap.

“City of Concord most recently went through their fee schedule, assessed the cost in reviewing each application and probably has the most up-to-date fee schedule for CCW applications and what we are proposing is pretty much in line with Concord,” explained Bittner.

The total cost is around $534 for an initial CCW license with a renewal of around $454 every two years for renewal.

“The fee update is intended to recoup the administrative cost so that there will be no financial burden to the general fund,” said Bittner. “It is important to note that the police department support and respect somebody lawfully obtaining a CCW. We don’t want anybody to think this fee structure was set to burden anybody or prevent anyone from applying. These are numbers we developed and assessed our fee schedule. Met with other agencies to find something revenue neutral so we are not making any money on this and breaking even at an employee’s cost.”

Greg Farina, chairman for the Contra Costa County for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, said he was happy Antioch was going through this because it was needed to speed up the application process time.

“The City of Concord has been doing CCW permits for their pubic and it is rushing through, 3 months at most. You train, you apply, you take the training, obviously typically into shooting, but this will only speed up the process,” explained Farina. “It took me 15-months to finally get a letter to say you can take the 16-hour training… change is good, we have to speed up the process up and this will help. Yes, it is expensive, I am concerned with lower income folks when we start raining prices to cover things that eliminates them from doing it.”

According to Bittner, Antioch averages about 5 applications per year while the past 18-months, the Sheriff’s office has processed 67—at most, Bittner anticipates about 100 applications per year. (Note – Bitnner later clarified the number after the meeting of around 5-30 applications per year is anticipated).

The council confirmed prior to the vote if Antioch Police finds they can get through applications faster than anticipated, they could look at reducing the fees in the future.

The council then voted 3-0 in favor with Councilmembers Tamisha Torres-Walker and Monica Wilson absent from the meeting.

Editors Note –

According to the Sheriffs Office, here is a look at their CCW Fees, which is much lower than the City of Antioch:

• $80 – initial fee (submission of application)
• $80 – Issuance Fee (approval of application)
• $137 – Renewal fee
• $10 – Duplicate Fee
• $35 – Modification Fee

Note – City of Pittsburg does not have their CCW information listed on their website. Meanwhile, the City of Richmond has not yet updated their data – see notice

Back in November of 2022, Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office Announced it was Overwhelmed by Concealed Weapon Permit Applications.  The occurred after the Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen on June 23, 2022, the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office has been inundated by requests for CCW permits. The ruling struck down New York’s restrictions on applicants for CCWs to show a compelling need to carry a concealed weapon in public. That meant that similar restrictions requiring applicants to demonstrate “good cause” in some states, like California, were unconstitutional.