Help! Wife's CCW application on-hold due to poor fingerprints...

[.455_Hunter]

We finally got around to turning-in my wife's CCW application a few weeks ago. At the time, the fingerprint technician thought her prints were bad, but we turned them in anyway to start the process. Today, she got a call that the prints had been officially kicked back.

My wife has a thyroid condition, does lots of dishes, and works as a research laboratory manager. Her fingerprints are very fine to begin with, so the added issues have resulted in many parallel "grooves" that run through the skin on her fingertip pads.

Is there anything we can do to improve the quality of the prints? Bag Balm? Corn Huskers Lotion?

Does Colorado CCW law state that you must have "good" finger prints in order to get a permit?

Thanks for your help!

 

[frankenstein406]

Im not sure if this will work the same on the fingers, but lip plumper is just a chemical irritant. Might help them.

 

[Steve H]

I went through the same thing in Utah. It took three sets of prints and then a call the BCI to explain the scar on my trigger finger.

 

[RimfireChris]

My hands are extremly dry, partly because of my job. When I went to get my permit, the guy doing the prints took one look at my hands put a bunch of the Corn Husker's lotion on them, and they came out fine and went through with no problems, I'd try that.

 

[Nushif]

Utah seems a bit picky. My wife had to send hers three times as well.
Mine was returned because clearly an American Passport claiming my citizenship as being American doesn't prove I have American citizenship. But that's a different story.

 

[PcolaDawg]

That happened to me in Florida with the electronic fingerprinting deal they have that is in conjunction with the FBI. They told me when they took my prints that they would be kicked back.

Sure enough, I got a letter from the local Sheriff's dept. saying the FBI rejected my prints and I had to come in and do it again.

So I went in, was fingerprinted again, but this time the Sheriff's department sent a letter with the prints indicating that my fingerprints were worn down, and that was the reason for the failure, not because of anything intentional on my part.

That did the trick. As Florida is a 'shall issue' state, and my worn down fingerprints were not a result of an intentional attempt to thwart the system, I was issued a CCW license, even though I do not have a good record of my fingerprints on file with the FBI.

Which I consider a huge plus.

 

[TrakHack]

+1 for Cornhusker's Lotion. I have very smooth fingertips and many have vertical creasing. The person who did my prints had me use Cornhusker's and all prints but my pinky fingers looked good.

 

[.455_Hunter]

We will try a couple weeks of Corn Husker's Lotion therapy.

Thanks!

 

[hirundo82]

Are electronic prints an option in Colorado? The success rate with those is supposedly much better than inked prints.

 

[Deus Machina]

+1 on the lotion.

I had to wash my hands really well and got my prints retaken twice, and had to get the deputy doing the job to break out a magnifying glass to prove that they had been unintentionally physically altered. Left index finger from a deep burn and right thumb where I sliced the pad half off and it healed with the print misaligned.
She thought I was twisting or lifting and reapplying the prints.

 

[230RN]

Mine are worn down from simple age. Been fingerprinted for security and the CCW a number of times, and they seem to always have to do it twice.

Tell you what, though, it's kind of difficult to pick up or hold onto smooth things.

Just hard work, I guess. Or just a geriatric process.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

My wife has a thyroid condition, does lots of dishes, and works as a research laboratory manager.

Mom has a thyroid condition, does dishes, doesn't work in a research lab. Have your wife wear gloves while doing dishes. One of the best ways to "rehydrate" fingers is to put them in the latex gloves with a heavy slathering of lotion. Depending on the lab, latex or cotton gloves may be most ideal. They should have the proper safety gear to protect her hands.

 

[lemaymiami]

A note to anyone that needs fingerprints done by an official agency as part of a job application or background check (or any of the far too many items needed to get a license of one kind or another...). Most of the folks that actually take fingerprints have little or no training in the correct way to do them. That kind of job, in small agencies, is just one more duty given to an entry level employee. Print cards can be rejected for too much ink, not enough ink, and any of a number of other problems that prevent proper classification (are they clear enough for a technician to read and classify them?). When I think about how many cards I did as a rookie (all those years ago) that were certainly un-readable before I learned to do them properly.....

At any rate, for those having problems make sure the one actually doing your prints knows what they're doing....

 

[newbuckeye]

+ 1 more for the Corn Huskers.

I was an ID tech for a small police dept and rolled many hundreds of prints on school teachers. The Huskers seemed to be the best at bringing them out, even if applied lightly a few minutes before the prints are attempted.

 

[.455_Hunter]

Thanks for the continued input!

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department is the largest in the state and uses the digital fingerprint method. My wife did use Corn Husker's Lotion immediately prior to taking the prints, but that was too little, too late. I will buy some this week at start her using it on a daily basis.

 

[Maia007]

Recently, I was "fingerprinted" on a different kind of system for my Govt-related security clearance. The work was done by a contractor and not by the local PD. It appeared similar to a xerox machine, whereby a photographic process was used, rather than ink-on-a-pad. The results were digital and were sent where they needed to go.

Sorry, but it was about the 75th time I have been fingerprinted and I wasnt really paying attention as I just wanted to get it over with and get out of there. Perhaps someone else knows the particulars about this kind system.

Such as system might be available in your area.

 

[230RN]

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department is the largest in the state and uses the digital fingerprint method. My wife did use Corn Husker's Lotion immediately prior to taking the prints, but that was too little, too late. I will buy some this week at start her using it on a daily basis.

I made the happy discovery that Jeffco does not require fingerprints for your carry permit renewal. I was expecting to have to go through that "do, re-do" ritual again.

Good hint about the Cornhuskers. Thanks.

Terry, 230RN

 

[Grey_Mana]

A signed explanatory letter from the finger-print taker can help the regulator, especially if the finger prints are taken by some government official or volunteer, certifiying "best quality possible".

A doctor's note can also help provide context. It doesn't take a doctor to see that a finger won't print (or that fingers are missing, if that is the case), but fancy letterhead and credentials go a long way.

 

[ColdDeadHand]

YES to the lotion and

YES to the digital prints. Fortunately St. Louis County has gone digital, because mine, too were initially refused. With digital technology, the system makes an ugly buzzer sound and tells you to do that finger again. My prints took almost 15 minutes to get through.

The technician does a lot of them. He gave me some lotion and told me to work it in pretty throughly. Then he had me blot away the excess lotion. This seemed to help a lot.

Preferrably try the lotion method with a digital fingerprinter. If digital is not an option, then just try the lotion technique and hope for the best.

Good luck!

 

[Nappers]

Having fingerprinted hundreds, if not thousands of persons incarcerated for breaking the law or some may say allegedly breaking the law, I use Corn Huskers and/or deodorant stick, wipe off excess. I was the only one to fingerprint an 80+ old gentleman for CCW and I used corn huskers and light pressure and I didn't see him again and I talked to the person that does CCW's and he got it.

Give that a shot, when we did public FP'ing at the jail, the old ladies and old guys were so fun to print!

Good luck