Bay area HSC suggestions.

[agent9]

I ended up getting my card at Bullseye in Marin. I called and they were very friendly on the phone, said they had plenty and just to come on in and they would get me taken care of. I got 100% on my first try (seriously if someone fails this test they should probably not own a handgun). Even though the shop was really busy they were prompt and accommodating, even laminated it for me when all was said and done.

[SJgunguy24]

I would caution against doing your PPT at Targetmasters if you do get your HSC there. They have been known to take hours filling out paperwork that should take a semi-competent person less than 10 minutes. YMMV as they seem to have new ownership (finally).

It took me 3 hours to PPT a glock 26 at that place, never again.

Is the extra $10 for the beer fund?

No, it's to cover the 250$ you gotta pay to become certified to give the HSC test.
I really should pick up a couple packs so I can help out my fellow calgunners.

[stevenkong1976]

I got my Handgun Safety Certificate from Security Six in Hayward. It took me about 15 minutes.

[Lebaneseblonde]

I'll take care of you at my licensed location (=house) in Mountain View if you need it. No other purchase required. I have one pack of cards left. We dealers do pre-pay for them in lots of 10. I'll do that transfer for the state mandated $35 if you wish. Trying to help out fellow Calgunners ease the pain of our CA laws with a smile and top-notch customer service.

Never had a dealing with this place but I felt to hand out kudos here.

If this is an example of his business.... Outstanding gesture

[RoundEye]

I'm not sure, but I thought that the stores/FFLs had to PAY for the HSCs in advance to get them from DOJ. This might be to avoid them just handing them out willy-nilly without actually doing the tests. So they do "hoard" them so that people who want to buy a gun from them and don't have the card, will have a card available. They don't want to lose a gun sale due to a shortage of HSCs on hand.

This may be FUD about paying first for them, I'm not sure, just what I thought was going on. Therefore the shortage too, since the cards aren't just free forms.

From DOJ document:

The fee for taking the HSC test and being issued an HSC is twenty five dollars ($25). The
twenty five dollar fee entitles the applicant to take the test twice if necessary. Fifteen dollars
($15) of the fee is to recover the cost of the certificate paid to DOJ by the Certified Instructor.
The remaining ten dollars ($10) compensates the DOJ Certified Instructor for administering the
test. DOJ Certified Instructors must pre-purchase Handgun Safety Certificates from the DOJ.
The certificates are sold only in pre-packaged sets of ten for $150 per set ($15 for each
certificate).


You would think that, since they have to pay in advance, the LGS would like to recover their costs as soon as possible, but again, they probably wouldn't want to stock up on them, since it costs money to do so, and they want some for their handgun customers who need them... nobody wants to lose a sale for lack of having the cards on hand!

This is pretty much the truth. We have to pay for them in advance, and the state mandates the fee that can be charged. If you were in the LA area, we could meet up at a Starbucks, and I'll give you the test.