Contra Costa County sheriff patrol vehicles. Photo: Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff. In California, Contra Costa County’s sheriff has agreed to lift its concealed-carry permit restrictions on red-dot sights, weapon-mounted lights, and single-action-only 1911- and 2011-style pistols, according to the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF). SAF announced the settlement October 8. The plaintiffs filed a notice of voluntary dismissal the next day.The sheriff’s posted permit rules reject handguns fitted with red dots or lights and bar single-action-only pistols, specifically naming the 1911. The permit lists the particular handguns a licensee may carry. SAF and two county residents sued in June, arguing those conditions violated the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The dispute concerned which handguns a county licensee could carry, not whether residents could own the guns or accessories.Under the agreement SAF describes, the sheriff will withdraw those particular restrictions and update its concealed-carry website within 10 days. Applicants still have to identify and qualify with each handgun they plan to carry. The settlement is not a court ruling that the old policy was unconstitutional.What changes for permit holdersThe agreement does not turn every pistol into an approved carry gun. Applicants still have to qualify with each handgun listed on a license. According to SAF, an existing permit holder who adds an optic or light may have to present the pistol for inspection and qualify again with the accessory installed. The announcement does not say the county lifted its other rules, including its limits on laser sights, certain firearm modifications, and the number of listed handguns.As of October 15, the sheriff’s online permit instructions still display the old prohibitions. Until that page and the permit process catch up with the settlement, licensees should check with the issuing office before changing a listed handgun’s setup. The agreement concerns permits issued by the Contra Costa County sheriff; it does not rewrite the rules used by other California licensing agencies.