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Marin stingy with concealed weapon permits
When it comes to getting a concealed weapon permit, liberal Marin is a conservative place.
Getting a license to carry a gun in some places around the state is as simple as asking for one and taking a class. But in Marin County, it's tough. Real tough.
"People have to show me good cause," said Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle.
Concealed weapon licenses are handed out by the top law enforcement official in each jurisdiction. In most places that's the chief of police, such as Fairfax and San Rafael. But Sheriff Doyle is the de facto gatekeeper because he oversees the county's unincorporated areas as well as San Anselmo and Sausalito, where police chiefs requested he handle it.
Marin County has 56 residents who are licensed to carry concealed weapons into movie theaters, restaurants and just about anywhere else, short of a courtroom. That breaks down roughly to a license for only 1 out of every 4,410 residents.
The rate at which concealed weapons permits are handed out in neighboring counties is almost twice that, according to statistics provided by the Attorney General's Office. In Sonoma it's 1 in 2,897, and 1 in 2,961 in Solano County.
In Napa County, one out of every 267 residents is licensed. That's 16 times the Marin rate.
According to a Gallup Poll in November 2004, only 27 percent of the country thinks any private citizen ought to be allowed to carry a concealed weapon - and just 44 percent thought law officers should be allowed to hide their guns. Nearly two-thirds - 65 percent - said they would feel less safe in a restaurant or movie theater knowing someone else had a concealed weapon.
Doyle usually carries a concealed pistol on trips into San Francisco or to the East Bay.
The sheriff faces the wrath of gun advocates who want him to issue more permits.
Since taking office in March 1996, Doyle has granted or renewed just 22 concealed weapon licenses for people such as former district attorney Paula Kamena and others including private investigators, jewelry dealers, a county judge and the owner of a laundromat chain with branches in neighborhoods such as San Francisco's Mission District. He gets a couple applications a year.
In 1996 Doyle rejected an application filed by a West Marin man who happened to be a freelance writer for Gun magazine.
Afterward, Doyle agreed to a question-and-answer piece about concealed weapons that ran in the June 1996 issue of the magazine. He outlined his reasons for denying licenses to almost everyone who applies - and has paid for it ever since. "I'm glad I don't live in Marin County," Gun reader Tom Randall wrote in a letter to the editor shortly after the article ran. "If I did, I'd be working on a campaign to have Sheriff Doyle recalled now!"
Today, Doyle said he has no regrets about the article or the ensuing political storm spurred by gun advocates. He said he continues to believe concealed weapon licenses ought to be given only to people with an extreme need.
"I would probably agree with them on most gun issues," he said of gun advocates.
Getting a concealed weapon license requires taking a class and, in Marin, that usually means working with Corte Madera resident Peter Koch.
When actor Sean Penn of Ross became worried about the violent tendencies of a former employee, he got a license from the Ross police chief and went to Koch for training.
"He had, in my opinion, a valid reason for having a permit," Koch said.
Koch is a pistol expert who has taught the classes for 15 years in 12 other counties and Nevada. His eight-hour class involves a written test, live fire drills, lessons about the use of deadly force and selecting the correct pistol, ammunition and holster.
Not everyone who has one needs it for protection. George Buckle, a 66-year-old former San Anselmo mayor, received one before Doyle took over the sheriff's office - at a time when it wasn't as difficult to obtain one - so he could transport a gun easier.
He said California law is so strict that a gun must be kept at one end of a car and the ammunition or clip at the other. Forget to do that and a minor traffic violation can turn into a gun rap.
"It's tough if you have a pickup or a motorcycle," he said. "If you have a license, you can carry it loaded."
Buckle said he'll carry a concealed pistol if he's on a long trip. But he's never carried it around Marin County.
"Frankly, I don't need to," he said.
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MARIN PERMITS
Number of people licensed to carry a concealed weapon:
Belvedere................................0
Corte Madera...........................2
Fairfax.....................................1
Larkspur..................................3
Mill Valley................................5
Novato...................................11
San Anselmo...........................4
San Rafael...............................9
Sausalito.................................2
Tiburon...................................0 Unincorporated......................19
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