The week, we won a CCW Application Appeal in San Mateo County! Senate Bill 2 modified the statutory scheme for CCW applications, effective January 1, 2024. SB2 is the California legislature’s response to the Bruen decision by the United States Supreme court. One part of the new statutory scheme allows a CCW applicant to appeal their license denial. The Orange County Superior Court hears the appeal pursuant to Penal Code section 26206.
The San Mateo court assigns all of these cases to the Master Calendar Court, Department 2H at the Redwood City Courthouse. The judge there sends the case out to an available courtroom. This case ended up taking three court appearances because no courtrooms were available when we were ready to argue the case. Also, the DA was working on getting our client’s mental health records. We filed our request for hearing and briefs using the court’s electronic filing system.
Background: 5150 Hold and Road Rage
The trouble started back in 2012, our client had a negligent discharge inside of his home. The police responded and took him for a 72 hour mental health evaluation per Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150. The doctors evaluated him and released him two days later with no diagnosis, no prescriptions and no follow up required. This process triggers a 5-year firearms ineligibility, so his firearms rights were restored by operation of law in 2017.
In 2019, there was an incident where he was the victim of brandishing. He had his car hanging out into the street while he was washing it. A neighbor from a few blocks over honked at him, and he got in his car and followed the neighbor to discuss the situation. The neighbor pulled out a non-functioning BB gun and pointed it at him. He called the police, and was listed in the report as the victim.
The CCW Application
He applied for a CCW license in April 2023 with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department. They finally got around to processing the application in 2024. The 5150 evaluation did not show up on the client’s DOJ background check, and he did not reveal it in response to a poorly worded question on the old version of the CCW application form. He did discuss it in his interview with the detective, and in his psychological evaluation. The 2024 version of the application form is now updated to more clearly ask about any 5150 evaluations in the applicant’s history.
He also did not reveal the 2019 incident on his application, but he did discuss it in his interview and in the psychological evaluation.
In October 2024, the San Mateo Sheriff’s Department denied the CCW application, citing a failure to disclose information, and their belief that he is reasonably likely to be a danger to himself, others, or the community at large per Penal Code section 26202(a)(1).
Then, he called Criminal Defense Heroes, P.C., and hired attorney Don Hammond to take the case.
The CCW Application Appeal
The client then retained us to handle the CCW Application Request for Hearing. We filed the Request for Hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court. After we received the initial hearing date, we filed a brief, explaining to the judge how the new law applies to the facts of this case. We issued a subpoena to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department, requesting their entire file related to this CCW application. And, we connected the client to a psychologist for a current and thorough assessment of dangerousness. We filed the new psychological report with the court.
The Court Hearing
A San Mateo County deputy district attorney argued the case for the government. The founder of Criminal Defense Heroes, P.C., attorney Don Hammond, argued the case for our client. The DA argued that the court should deny the appeal because of the 2012 WIC 5150 evaluation and the 2019 road rage brandishing incident. We made two arguments: (1) “Failure to disclose” is not a legal criteria to deny a CCW license; and (2) The client is not reasonably likely to be a danger to anyone.
We pointed out that the county’s psychological evaluation referenced an outdated and abrogated legal standard. It relied on the old section that allowed a moral character analysis – that’s not current law. The county’s evaluator also did not make any assessment of dangerousness for the court to rely on. We argued that our psychological evaluation from our expert was more thorough and more current. That evaluation shows a low probability of danger. There is nothing in the law that allows a denial for “failure to disclose” and our client in fact did not willfully fail to disclose anything – the application was poorly worded.
After some back-and-forth, the judge ruled that the DA had not met his burden of proof that the client is a disqualified person under relevant law. She ruled that he is not disqualified, and ordered the Sheriff’s Department to proceed with processing the client’s application.
Your California Firearms Rights Attorney
For tips on filling out your California CCW application, see our article here. These tips will help set your case up for success in case an appeal becomes necessary.
We have now won CCW denial appeal hearings in Los Angeles County and Orange County and San Mateo County. I’m not aware of any other law firm that has handled as many of these as us, let alone across multiple counties. This is a niche area of law, where you need experienced representation. Attorney Don Hammond is a shooting instructor, has represented clients in gun-related cases for over a decade, and he won the first CCW application appeal hearings in both Los Angeles County and Orange County, and now has a win in San Mateo County. He is also a Critical Response Attorney for the United States Concealed Carry Association and the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network. If your CCW application has been denied, contact us today to explore the possibility of a CCW Application Appeal. Contact us today at 323-529-3660!
