Can I Carry a Gun in My Business in California?

Yes, you can carry a gun at your own business in California without a concealed carry permit, but only a handgun, only if you are not a prohibited person, and only within limits that the statute itself does not spell out on its face. Penal Code Section 25605 is the exemption that makes this possible, and understanding what it does not cover matters as much as understanding what it does.¹

What Section 25605 Actually Allows

Section 25605 says no permit or license is required for a U.S. citizen or legal resident at least 18 years old to carry a handgun, openly or concealed, at their place of residence, place of business, or on private property they own or lawfully possess. It exempts qualifying people from the concealed carry prohibition in Section 25400 and from the open-unloaded-carry rule in Section 26350.¹

Three limits are worth pinning down before anything else. The exemption covers handguns only, so a rifle or shotgun kept behind the counter is not what this statute protects. The statute says “place of business,” meaning a business you own or operate, not any business you happen to be inside. And you cannot be a prohibited person under Penal Code Sections 29800, 29900, or the Welfare and Institutions Code provisions on mental health holds.

The Loaded Handgun Problem in Public-Facing Businesses

This is where most owners misread the law. Subsection (c) of Section 25605 states plainly that the exemption does not affect Sections 25850 through 26055. Section 25850 makes it a crime to carry a loaded firearm in any public place or on any public street.²

So the practical question is whether your business counts as a public place. A retail shop, a restaurant, or any storefront open to walk-in customers generally does. A private office, a warehouse, or a workshop that the public never enters generally does not. If customers can walk through the door, carrying a loaded handgun on the sales floor without a CCW license puts you in legally exposed territory even with the Section 25605 exemption, because that exemption does not shield you from the loaded-firearm-in-public statute. An unloaded handgun stored behind the counter sits on firmer ground. A loaded handgun in a back stockroom customers cannot access is a different analysis again.

If you want to carry loaded on a public-facing floor and remove the ambiguity, the answer is a CCW license.

Who Is Disqualified Entirely

The exemption assumes you can legally possess a firearm to begin with. Penal Code Section 29800 bars firearm possession by anyone convicted of a felony under California, federal, or any other state’s laws, and by anyone addicted to narcotics.³ Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) adds domestic violence misdemeanants, people subject to active protective orders, those involuntarily committed for mental health treatment, and unlawful users of controlled substances.

If any of these apply, carrying a handgun at your business is a felony, not a technical violation. California felony convictions carry a lifetime firearms ban unless you obtain a pardon or the conviction is reduced to a misdemeanor that does not independently trigger a prohibition. Owning the business changes nothing.

When a CCW License Is the Cleaner Path

For owners who want to carry loaded in public-facing areas, or who travel between locations, or who simply want to close the interpretive gaps in Section 25605, a Concealed Carry Weapon license is the more predictable route. California overhauled its CCW process through Senate Bill 2, effective in 2024.

SB 2 dropped the old “good cause” requirement and the “good moral character” standard. A licensing authority, typically a county sheriff or municipal police chief, must now issue or renew a CCW license if the applicant is not a “disqualified person” under the objective criteria in Penal Code Section 26202 and meets the remaining statutory requirements, including minimum age and firearms training.⁴ Applicants who believe they were wrongly deemed disqualified can seek review in the superior court of their county. Training must meet Penal Code Section 26165 and includes a live-fire exercise for each handgun the applicant intends to carry. Fees and timelines vary by county.

Locations That Override the Exemption

Even with a CCW license, and even if your business sits squarely inside Section 25605, certain locations override everything. If your business is one of these places, or sits inside one, the exemption does not save you.

SB 2 Sensitive Places

SB 2 created a list of 26 “sensitive places” under Penal Code Section 26230 where CCW holders cannot carry. A federal court initially enjoined many of these restrictions, but as of January 2025, the Ninth Circuit reversed most of the injunction, leaving 20 of the 26 locations enforceable.⁵ Enforceable locations include:

Schools and childcare: K-12 school zones, preschool and childcare facilities, and college and university campuses
Government buildings: buildings under the control of state executive or legislative branch officers, court buildings, local government buildings, and police stations
Bars and restaurants where alcohol is sold for on-site consumption, including their parking areas
Parks, playgrounds, youth centers, stadiums, amusement parks, zoos, museums, casinos, and public libraries
Airports and passenger vessel terminals
Polling places, detention facilities, and property controlled by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Six locations remain blocked by court order as of this writing: hospitals and medical facilities, public transit, public gatherings requiring a government permit, places of worship, financial institutions, and privately owned commercial property open to the public where the owner has posted prohibitory signage.⁵ The litigation is ongoing, so the enforceable list may shift.

If you own a bar, restaurant, amusement venue, or another business on the enforceable list, Section 26230 applies to you at your own business. Section 25605 does not override it.

School Zones and College Campuses

Penal Code Section 626.9, the Gun-Free School Zone Act, makes it illegal to possess a firearm in a K-12 school zone, defined as school grounds or any area within 1,000 feet of a public or private school. If your business sits within that 1,000-foot radius, this applies. College and university campuses are covered under subsections (h) and (i), which say “notwithstanding Section 25605,” meaning the place-of-business exemption cannot override the campus prohibition.⁶ Possessing a loaded firearm on a college campus is punishable by two, three, or four years in state prison.

Government and Federal Buildings

Penal Code Section 171b prohibits bringing any firearm into a state or local public building or into a meeting required to be open to the public, punishable by up to one year in county jail or state prison.⁷ Section 171c covers the State Capitol, legislative offices, and the Governor’s office.

Federally, 18 U.S.C. § 930 prohibits possessing a firearm in any federal facility, meaning a building or part of a building owned or leased by the federal government where federal employees regularly work. A basic violation carries up to one year in prison; if the firearm is intended for use in a crime, five years; federal court facilities, up to two years.⁸ If your business leases space in a mixed-use building with a federal tenant, this matters.

Deciding Whether Others Can Carry on Your Property

Property rights give you broad authority to decide who enters your premises and on what terms. You can ban firearms from your business through posted signs, written policy, or verbal notice to individuals.

California “no guns” signs do not carry their own criminal penalty the way they do in some other states. A person who walks in armed past your sign has not committed a firearms offense by that act alone. Once you ask them to leave and they refuse, it becomes a trespass matter under Penal Code Section 602, a misdemeanor punishable under Penal Code Section 19 by up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.⁹ If you employ people, a clear written firearms policy is worth having.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

The stakes explain why the earlier distinctions matter.

Concealed carry without a license under Section 25400 is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. It becomes a felony if you have a prior felony conviction, if the firearm is stolen and you knew it, if you are an active criminal street gang participant, or if you are a prohibited person.¹⁰
Carrying a loaded firearm in public under Section 25850 is a misdemeanor in the base case, also up to one year and a $1,000 fine, with the same aggravating factors and additional exposure if you are not the registered owner.²
Open carry of an unloaded handgun under Section 26350 is a misdemeanor with a standard penalty of up to six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine, rising to one year when the person has ammunition in immediate possession and is not the lawful possessor of the handgun.¹¹
Firearm possession by a prohibited person under Section 29800 is a felony punishable by state prison time.³

Any firearm conviction also cascades: future possession rights, an existing or future CCW license, and professional licensing depending on your industry can all be affected.

1
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 25605 – Carrying Handgun in Residence, Place of Business, or Private Property
2
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 25850 – Carrying a Loaded Firearm
3
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29800
4
California Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Regulations: Carry Concealed Weapons Licenses
5
California Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. 2025-DLE-06 Additional Restrictions on CCW License Holders
6
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 626.9
7
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 171b
8
GovInfo. 18 USC 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
9
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 19
10
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 25400 – Carrying a Concealed Firearm
11
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 26350 – Openly Carrying an Unloaded Handgun