Alameda County, California which includes the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, San Leandro, Fremont, and Hayward. Local PD's defer to the Sheriff for permit issuance. The requirements for a CCW are: 1) Residence in the county and being at least 21 years old; 2) "Good Character" as proved by a clean DOJ background check; and, 3) "Justification," as expressed in the application letter. The first 2 requirements are easily proven. The third is a bit vague and discretionary, but it seems that the Alameda Sheriff is more liberal than, say the SFPD in regards to what constitutes "justification." I would suggest you make the best case you can in this part of the application. Being a shop owner in Oakland, for example, seems adequate justification for the Alameda Sheriff. The SFPD doesn't seem to think so. 

If you satisfy the 3 essential "prerequisites" for the CCW, you will be asked to submit the $175 fee for a 2-year resident CCW permit. You must then show evidence of having passed a firearms safety course. The NRA course is currently acceptable, but there are plans to require an 8-16 POST-type course. Then you must undergo a 4-hour psychological evaluation. You will be given the same psychological tests and psychological interview that are used to evaluate Sheriff's Deputy Recruits. (cost=$150). If you pass this, you will be scheduled for range qualification (current cost=$50), which you must pass with a range score of 75% or better, using the gun you will carry loaded with the ammo you will carry. Finally, you are required to carry $1 million in personal liability insurance. This can be obtained as a rider on your homeowner's policy at fairly reasonable cost (mine was about $50 more per year).

Alameda is pretty slow in issuing permits. Mine took about 7 months from start to finish. They will authorize one weapon on the permit. If you want to change weapons, you must range-qualify with the new gun. The CCW is valid throughout the state. There are commonsense restrictions, such as you can't carry while drinking alcohol or in an airport. The county has issued about 250 permits for about 2 million residents. The number of permits is relatively small probably because of the cost (about $400 for all the fees) and the hoops applicants have to jump through.