Murrieta waives fee, lowers cost for concealed weapons permit

MURRIETA, Calif. (KABC) -- Getting a concealed carry weapons permit in Murrieta isn't any easier this year, but it will be a little cheaper by using taxpayer money to pay for some of the fees.

"The purpose of this change was to give back to the citizens of Murrieta for the Measure T tax measure that was passed last year to give us extra tax money for police, public safety and stuff like that," said Sgt. Jeremy Durrant of the Murrieta Police Department.

The fee breakdown before this year included a background check, a license fee, the fingerprinting fee, a psychological evaluation and weapon and safety training. That's a grand total of nearly $800.

But now the city will be paying for that background check, saving people in Murrieta close to $300.

"There are many categories of fees associated with getting a (Carry Concealed Weapon), some we have control over and some we don't," Durrant said.

Durrant says the change will actually help to bring the cost of a concealed weapons permit more in line with other jurisdictions, like the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which doesn't have to outsource the background check like Murrieta does.

"Other agencies have their own background investigators they can utilize, so there's no extra application fees for those agencies," Durrant said. "As with us, we have to outsource that and obviously charge for that background investigation."

Murrieta police does want to point out that all of this only applies for residents of Murrieta.