A sheriff in Sonoma County, California, Steve Freitas, has floated a plan to require psychological evaluation for anyone who wants to get a Sonoma County concealed carry permit. That plan is now on hold after gun rights groups opposed it. Not a big surprise there.
The Board of Supervisors must approve Frietas’s proposal. The plan would increase the free to apply from $212 to $767. That cost barrier is enough to oppose the plan by itself. He’s obviously trying to make the license harder to get by vastly increasing the costs. Freitas says the cost increase is to cover the cost of the psychological testing he wants to start doing.
Freitas originally proposed this for the group to talk about in early November. The discussion was postponed and is now off the table, apparently. It’s not hard to see why no one wanted to consider it. According to that news report I linked to, no one at the sheriff’s office wanted made any comment.
This county is not the only one in California that has similar plans. Alameda, Kings and San Benito require psychological evaluations for people who are trying to get a Sonoma County concealed carry permit. Last time we checked, the permit in San Benito was $250. this was $100 for the permit and $150 for the testing. Freitas says the $150 fee doesn’t cover the cost of the testing. Hopefully this is the end of this plan.
