If you want a concealed carry permit in Los Angeles, you have to go to the LAPD. In the wake of Bruen, though, the LAPD can no longer demand a good reason for someone to get a permit. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that while the rules have changed in many ways, one thing that hasn’t is that the department clearly doesn’t want the average person to be able to carry a firearm.

That’s clear based on what they’re charging people seeking to get one.

A gun-rights group is taking issue with the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) new concealed carry weapon permitting policy, which adds a $268 fee with 20 percent or $53 due at the time of the in-person interview.

“The fee is quite high at $268,” said attorney Konstadinos T. Moros who represents the California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA). “This compares to the $150 total the LA Sheriff’s Department charges. It’s not clear why LAPD feels it can charge so much more.”

Neither the LAPD’s fee of $268 nor the Los Angeles Sheriffs’ fee of $150 includes the cost of the livescan or training class, which adds nearly $300 to the cost of becoming licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

“We are looking at more than a $500 effective price tag to exercise a constitutional right if you are getting a permit from LAPD,” Moros told The Epoch Times.

That’s beyond ridiculous.

Fees for permits are certainly understandable. There’s a cost in issuing those permits and I don’t see an issue with a fee requirement to offset that expense. I honestly wish the government did more of that and less of raising taxes, truth be told.

However, there’s no way it’s costing the LAPD $268 per applicant in order to issue a permit. It’s just not happening.

So why charge so much?

Simple. LAPD officials don’t want ordinary folks carrying a firearm in Los Angeles. They’ve raised the cost so it’s completely out of reach for most poor Los Angelenos and likely out of reach for most in the middle class. It still is easily attainable by celebrities and the connected, but not regular folks.

Especially when you consider the cost of the mandatory training class is at least as much.

All of this, however, is assuming that someone already has a gun. If they’re having to buy one of those as well, you may well be looking at over $1,000 in total. While the cost of the gun is what it is and there’s no relief for that, the rest makes it virtually impossible for poorer folks in more crime-ridden neighborhoods to do much of anything to protect themselves outside of their homes.

That’s likely by design.

CRPA is taking issue with this and they’re absolutely right to do so. These fees are nothing more than a punitive measure meant to keep people from carrying guns, which runs counter to Bruen. That means the LAPD is likely to land in court and will be required to justify these fees to the judges.

I honestly don’t think they can.

So this is going to be a temporary condition. However, in the meantime, a lot of folks in Los Angeles are going to be denied their Second Amendment rights.