Illinois starts CCW applications 12-18-2013

The Illinois State Police is using approved / certified concealed carry instructors as guinea pigs for debugging the state's new CCW application process.

I'll be submitting my application TOMORROW.

http://www.cinewsnow.com/home/ISP-o...certified-firearms-instructors-236270911.html

The new law requires that Certified Instructors be eligible for a concealed carry license.
With nearly 2,000 Certified Firearms Instructors currently listed on the ISP concealed carry website, Illinois State Police said this early access to the application process will provide an opportunity to test the application system.
Instructors can access the ISP Concealed Carry Licensing website on December 18 to electronically submit a concealed carry license application.

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I will do a write-up on the full process as I go through it, so I can help inform people of what's involved (and any hiccups I encounter).

Followup; Instructions arrived in my e-mail inbox from the Illinois State Police at 3:47 PM.

From what it sounds like, they're going to use the ~2000 instructor applications to train employees and work out any kinks in the system before they start accepting everyone's apps in January.

Despite my reservations about all of the restrictions and gun free zones, I'm finding myself kind of excited.. now that it's finally here!

Maybe Santa will bring me a new CCW permit in the mail before Christmas.

They've also asked instructors to respond to questions regarding how many students they have trained, or expect to have trained, by January 5th.

So it appears as though they are also getting an idea of how many applications they are going to get pummeled with when they open on January 5th.

That is a very good sign. It means the State Police are being very proactive and are trying to plan to handle the volume they will get.

While it's hard to tell how the program will be in 30 years (we know the FOID backlog nightmares...), it *does* show that the IL State Police are actually committed to hitting the legislative deadlines on this (even though there is no real penalty if they miss them.)

So.. (and I never thought I'd ever find myself saying this...)

"Kudos to the IL State Police for doing things the right way."

Guess I'll need to find a new state agency to complain about for a while.

Macs can run Java. (In fact, a lot of Mac software is written in Java.)

It's Shockwave (Flash) that Apple is strange about.

well this is off to a bad start, lol.

The following error occured : Unsupported browser

Your browser is not supported. Please use Internet Explorer 7.0 or above, Firefox 25.0 or above, or Safari 6 or above. Chrome is NOT supported at present time.

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(Was using chrome.)

And from IE11 on windows 8...

The following error occured : Unsupported JVM vendor

Java does not appear to be working in your browser. You can test if java is working by going to a website such as www.javatester.org and clicking the “Test the version of Java your browser is using” button.

If you need to install Java, it is available for download at www.java.com.

Version 1.6 or later of java is needed for our systems.

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Yes, javatester works.

On IE11 the "allow this application to run box" appears on the bottom of the browser window, but before you can click "allow" the ISP website fails the java test and you can't proceed.

Adding https://instate.pki.illinois.gov/ to trusted sites got passed that hiccup.

Well, until I hit forget password on my digital ID # (not even sure if I have one).

When requesting a forgotten password I got this:

An authentication error has occurred:


Authentication URL accessed directly without access to protected URL first.


Retry

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These guys have some bugs to work out.... sigh.

EDIT:

when I hit retry I get a 404 not found error.

Good grief.

They have some provision for out of state applicants; during the process:

For out-of-state requirements, you must: 1. print, complete, sign and notarize the Out-of-state Affidavit form stating you meet mental health standards to carry a firearm in the state of Illinois; and 2. upload a copy of your out-of-state conceal carry license.

Upload both the affidavit and a copy of your current conceal carry license below:

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And.. on page 2 of the application the "Next" button doesn't work. Can't get passed it.


Sigh.

What the hell. I called the number the IL state police told instructors to call if they have problems.

"If you are receiving this message during the hours of blah and blah, it means we are experiencing a high call volume. Goodbye."

Click.

Sonofa..

Ooh this time I got put on hold!

Yes, I got the digital ID.

I can't get past page 2 on the application (where it asks for country, FOID #, drivers license #). The next button does nothing - hovering over it shows no link. Save and previous buttons work OK.

Updating Java and trying again..

OK got through to someone ... finally.

"They might be in the middle of modifying that third page, they were making changes to the application website after some problems this morning, so keep trying and call back in a couple hours if you can't get through."

The good news is, it remembers everything you've entered on the application up to the point you quit - so I don't have to re-enter all the information on page 1 & 2 when I close the browser and log back in.

EDIT: Updating java does no good, the "Next" button on page 2 doesn't work.

Count;

IE 11 on Windows 8.1.

I went in to work and used a Windows 7 box; got to the page where it asked for my instructor ID. Realized I'd left the damn paper at home.

Got home. Started again on my computer here, it remembers all of my info but won't let me get past page 2 again. GRRRRR...

I have a Windows 7 box upstairs I use for my flight sim stuff, going to get a wireless NIC hooked up to it later so I can finish this.

Major pain in the butt.