Technically, the cost to carry in Kansas is zero dollars, since the state adopted Constitutional Carry a decade ago. But like every other state, Kansas still makes concealed carry licenses available for those who want one. 

The number of carry permits has been declining over the past few years, probably because many gun owners don't feel the need to obtain a license for reciprocity purposes. In 2024, however, the state saw its first increase in carry permits in several years, and it was a substantial one. The 4,795 new permits that were issued doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a 27% increase over 2023's numbers.

So what changed? The biggest reason for the spike in carry permits was the elimination of a $100 fee that every applicant had to pay to the state Attorney General's office. Gov. Laura Kelly signed SB 116 into law in April, 2023, reducing the cost of a carry license to $32.50 payable to the country sheriff who processes the application. 

Compare that relatively modest fee to the $1,000 or more that some jurisdictions in California are charging residents to exercise their right to bear arms. And keep in mind, in Kansas a carry permit is completely optional. So long as you can legally own a gun, you can lawfully carry it without a license. 

In California, on the other hand, the only option available to gun owners is a lengthy and (in many cases) cost prohibitive process that seems designed to prevent people from exercising their 2A rights.  

Someone posted their Orange County CCW permit application process timeline on r/Caguns, and I figured I'd share it here so some of you people in free states can see what the process looks like.

And remember, Orange County is one of the best departments in California you can… pic.twitter.com/oMUBaGXn45

— Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) January 15, 2025

There is no way a three-month wait and paying almost $600 to exercise a fundamental civil right is reasonable, even if Orange County has one of the cheaper carry regimes in California. And as Moros says, this is one of the better counties in the sate when it comes to recognizing that right and taking it seriously, which just goes to show how screwy the state's gun laws really are. 

There's no reason why progressive bastions like Santa Clara County or Los Angeles have to charge applicants an arm and a leg before they can bear arms in self-defense. The motivation for these exorbitant fees is simple: the more it costs to lawfully carry, the fewer concealed carry permit holders there'll be. 

As an added bonus for the anti-gunners, charging four figures for a carry permit will tend to weed out those on the lower end of the economic spectrum. Folks living paycheck to paycheck or those slowly going into debt because of the high cost of living and Bidenflation aren't going to have the money (or time) to spare for a carry license. The residents in high crime, low income neighborhoods are arguably those who need access to their right to bear arms the most, but they're also the most likely to run into insurmountable challenges when they try to exercise their Second Amendment rights. 

If  you make carry licenses affordable, more people will get carry licenses. The more it costs, the fewer applicants we'll see. The Supreme Court has said that "shall issue" carry regimes are presumptively constitution, but cautioned that excessive fees or lengthy wait times could render them an infringement on our Second Amendment rights. Kansas lawmakers don't have anything to worry about in that regard, but California's carry regime will hopefully soon collapse under the weight of the lawsuits that have already been filed.