Please note that the numbers given are the number of applications that make it to the County Clerk’s Pistol License Office from 1/1 to 12/31 of each year and include FFLs who have to renew their license and a few of the people will be denied a license for multiple reasons so the actual number of new pistol licenses issued will be slightly less.
IF YOU WANT TO GET A PISTOL LICENSE MAKE AN APPOINTMENT ASAP FOR FINGER PRINTING!
THE SOONER YOU GET FINGERPRINTED AND TURN IN YOUR APPLICATION, THE SOONER YOU GET YOUR LICENSE!
The total number of new handgun licenses in 2015 in Orange County was 1,169. That number represented 432 fewer new licenses applications or a 27% reduction from the 2014 total number of 1,601, but don’t despair. Because of the CA shooting and the instant cry for more gun control and Obama’s Executive Order threat, a whole bunch of people were motivated to apply for a handgun license so much so that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has added additional hours for fingerprinting and they have a backlog both in making appointments to get fingerprinted and, (I was told by someone but I am unable to verify,) of around 800 applications that have already been turned in and are being processed.
The Sheriff’s Department has added evening hours and has added every Sunday for now but even with that, as of 1/19/16, their first opening for fingerprinting is March 20th, 2016 or 61 days. Given the number of hours and the number of slots per day they have open that works out to around 490 people in line as of 1/19/16 waiting to get fingerprinted but that number, I think, also includes people who have to get fingerprinted for other reasons.
(It still does not matter. It is the job of the Sheriff’s Department to accept applications and they should do it much faster. I can see waiting a week or ten days but two months is unacceptable. Can you imagine them saying that they have a backlog and so they can’t take criminals in their jail for two months because they are too busy?)
Some interesting numbers:
Total number of new licenses from 2008 – 2018, (8 years,) is 9,714 for a 8 year average of 1,214, a slight decrease from last years 7 year average of 1,221.
Total number of new licenses from 1993 to 2007, (15 years,) is 6,690 for a 15 year average of 446. This includes a large spike in 2001 and 2002 caused by NYC police officers who retired after 9-11 and live in Orange County.
That means that in the last 8 years Orange County has issued 3,024 more licenses that were issued in the previous 15 years.
(This paragraph is copied from my 2014 post but still is valid.) While I don’t expect the numbers to stay this high over the long term, I do expect the numbers to stay around the 7, (8) year average for the next few years of between 1,100 to 1,400. These numbers dispel the RECENT REPORT that the number of gun owners are on the decline at least in Orange County. One of the few advantages of the NY handgun regulation is that we can tell how many new handgun owners apply for a license. In most states anyone can go out and just buy a handgun but will need to apply for a license for a Concealed Carry License so you can’t tell from those numbers how many people are new handgun owner there are. In NY we know by the number of new licenses how many new handgun owners there are because they could not have legally owned or purchased a handgun without a license.
- 2015 1,169
- 2014 1,601
- 2013 1,735
- 2012 1,346
- 2011 993
- 2010 1,170
- 2009 1,000
- 2008 700
- 2007 508
- 2006 454
- 2005 446
- 2004 422
- 2003 431
- 2002 600 (LEO retirement after 9/11)
- 2001 508 (LEO retirement after 9/11)
- 2000 374
- 1999 326
- 1998 308
- 1997 432
- 1996 341
- 1995 463
- 1994 508 (Federal Assault Weapons Ban passes and is signed)
- 1993 569 Headlines- Pres. Clinton’s 1st year, Janet Reno is AG, first World Trade Center bombing, Waco, Lorena Bobbitt, SF law office shooting, Colin Ferguson LIRR shooting, original Federal Assault Weapons Ban passes House and Senate in Nov.