What a difference a decision makes.

Orange County residents didn’t often bother to apply for concealed carry permits in the past, knowing that unless they had “good cause,” they would be turned down.

After the 9th Circuit’s appeals court ruling that struck down the “good cause” standard used by several California counties, Orange County adopted a policy that is de facto “shall issue,” and the response has been tremendous:

People are applying for concealed-weapon permits in droves in Orange County, after a federal court ruled Californians don’t have to justify their need for the permit.

In less than two weeks, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has received more than 500 applications for concealed-weapon permits – about the same number of applications received in all of 2013.

“They’ve been absolutely inundated,” said Lt. Jeff Hallock about the personnel assigned to process the applications.

The deluge of applications came after a Feb. 13 federal appeals court ruling that said applicants wanting a concealed-weapon permit in California no longer have to justify their need for one.

The decision was praised by gun-rights groups as a landmark decision, and sheriff’s officials said the applications quickly came in.

However, the large number of applications has not meant an immediate increase in approvals, officials said. Because of the surge of applications, known as CCWs, for Carry Concealed Weapon, the process for approval has been significantly slowed down.

It may take a while, but practical concealed carry seems to be on its way to the citizens of California.