Help, problems obtaining my wife's ccw

[Brandon]

First post, been lurking for a while. This is by far the best board I've found on the internet.

My problem:

When I applied for my georgia permit 3 years ago I had it in 2 months tops.

However my wife applied in April 2004. The county approved immediately, the GBI approved in 1 week but the FBI has been sitting on it since. We call every two weeks with the same response, "It's the FBI"

We both had ccw in Alabama, she has never even had a speeding ticket.

What, if anything, can I do?

Brandon

 

[Edmond]

Brandon,

If it truly is still with the FBI, there is nothing you can do about it. You can't just pick up the phone and call them to ask about the process of your CCW application.

What process do you go through in the application? Government agencies aren't easy to deal with and in my experience; they have the "deal with it or go find another government attitude." It's hard enough getting things done with one agency; just imagine how difficult it would be to co-ordinate the efforts of mulitiple agencies!

What I would do is call the GBI and ask for a supervisor. See if they can tell you anything. If not, go online and look up the directors name and anyone else that would be worth writing to. Start writing letters to them along with your representatives.

I had a serious problem with an agency here in Illinois this past summer. I would call and the lady kept giving me bad attitude and the runaround. I would ask for her supervisor and she would hang up on me. I ended up writing letters to the senior supervisors in that agency along with letters to the governor and my state representatives. The matter was taken care of within a month and I also received a signed apology with the status of my issue from the director of the agency.

 

[Kharn]

Check Packing.org to see if there's a time limit established by the law, I believe some states require a license be issued in 60 or 90 days even if the background check isnt back yet.

Kharn

 

[Atticus]

"You can't just pick up the phone and call them to ask about the process of your CCW application."

Why not?

 

[Tom Servo]

Brandon, what county are you in? Although the law says 90 days, individual counties can take as long as 4 months to issue. Here in Cobb, the average is four, but from what I've heard, Gwinett can take as long as six. Yeah, it's illegal, but I don't think anyone's sued yet, so it continues to happen.

EIght months is ridiculous, though. Depending on county, I'd try writing a neutral but respectful letter to either the county sheriff or local probate court judge. If I'm correct, at six months, they HAVE to issue a permit, whether or not it's still tied up with "the FBI."

 

[Brandon]

packing.org info

Here is the only relative info I found:

After 60 days the Court Shall Issue
Process:
How can a Probate Court take longer than 60 days when the law says that the court "shall issue" the permit "not later than 60 days after the date of the application?"
U78-45 The Unofficial Opinion of the Attorney General says that since a background check is an essential condition to the permit, the check must be completed before the permit is approved. To balance that the opinion also states that courts should strive to process the permit within 50 days or as quickly as possible.
How can some counties take an average of 2 months and other counties take an average of 6 months?
A Representative of the GBI said this about Background Checks:


"It takes GCIC about three to four weeks at this time, due to budget cuts and employee lay-offs. It will take the FBI an additional two to three weeks for them to process the request after GCIC completes their process."
The average return time for the GBI/FBI check is 35 to 49 days.

Those that live in counties that take a long time to return the permit (some average 6 months) should know that it is more than likely the local system that is causing the delay.

I suppose I will make another call and write a letter to the probate judge.

Thanks

Brandon

Edited to add that I am in Coweta county