How long did your carry permit take to complete?

[Arkansas Paul]

All the posts talking about fingerprints! Why are your states treating you like criminals? Why would a law abiding citizen be required to submit fingerprints like if you committed a crime? All that to be "allowed" to carry a gun?

I agree it is aggravating. But I was a security alarm technician for years and had government clearance to work in federal court houses, so background checks and finger print cards are nothing new to me. We had to submit them to the FBI and DHS (Inside the court house is controlled by the U.S. Marshal's Service, outside the building is Department of Homeland Security).

Anyway, I'm used to it.

 

[herrwalther]

In Alabama it is dependent on county for price, but the overall process is similar. Fill out a 1-2 page form. Wait 10-20 minutes for the background check and pay the fee which is $15 in this particular county. No waiting needed, they print it out right in the office and hand it to you.

 

[GBExpat]

So how long did your permit take from fingerprinting to getting approved and in what state?

First time ... lessee ... Winter'75 ... drove my MGB down to the new Princess Anne Complex where the 1st Precinct is/was located. Gave the clerk my application & check and was fingerprinted.

IIRC, not quite 2 weeks elapsed before I received my CWP in the mail. It was good for one year and was a permit to carry a concealed "weapon".

I think that when VA became a Shall Issue state, the permits changed to "handgun".

 

[AK103K]

It takes about 15 minutes here to get your permit in central PA, $25. They also have evening hours two nights a week for those of us who cant do the 8-4 thing. Very pleasant and quite accommodating.

All the posts talking about fingerprints! Why are your states treating you like criminals? Why would a law abiding citizen be required to submit fingerprints like if you committed a crime? All that to be "allowed" to carry a gun?

PA still treats you like a criminal, and requires you to be finger printed yearly, if you work in certain industries around schools. Why yearly seems to be a question no one wants to answer, ($50/yr, hmm, naw, its not a money maker, do ya think? ) but it is what it is if you want to work, and make any kind of reasonable money out here.

 

[JRH6856]

All the posts talking about fingerprints! Why are your states treating you like criminals? Why would a law abiding citizen be required to submit fingerprints like if you committed a crime? All that to be "allowed" to carry a gun?

Because the government looks for any reason it can find to collect identified fingerprints so LE finds random prints at a crime scene, they will have something to compare them to for identification. The more prints in the database, the better. They have been doint this since fingerprinting became an accepted LE tool.

 

[smalls]

They have 90 days to issue your permit here. My county is ma PITA so it took them 120

 

[Delford]

NC starts with the county sheriff after a required class costing anywhere from $50 to $150. The class includes 6 hours of classroom instruction on pertinent laws and handgun safety and fifty rounds on target from 21 feet for a semi auto or revolver and another fifty for the other. (This second qualification is rare.) After you get your certificate you go to your sheriff's office and fill out the application to carry concealed and they fingerprint you. They do a check of your local record and then send it to Raleigh for the SBI to check you out. Then they send it to to the NCIC for the final check. All that takes a while but not longer than three months at a cost of $85 in my county. The permit also allows unlimited handgun purchases without the $15 fee for each. It expires in five years and a renewal is $85 without the initial hassle.

Having worked for the Postal Service in college I was printed for that job, which made me easier to find when I served lunch for Lady Bird Johnson at Hearst Castle at a BBQ, and when I chaperoned high school juniors on the White House tour in 2002. Both of those events required background checks. The White House tour was limited to those who had been checked previously that year. (That didn't require printing.)

 

[armoredman]

Permit was recognized as pre-existing in 2010 here in Free AZ.
Seriously, the regular permit, which I do have takes anywhere from a month to less than a week, depending on backlog. Since we went Constitutional Carry, many of the DPS staff assigned to the Handgun Permit section have been moved to real law enforcement work.

 

[gbran]

15 years ago here in CA, it took about 4 weeks for me. Have to renew every 2 years, but that is easy, cheap and painless.

 

[788Ham]

I took the 8 hr. course, took paperwork to sheriff's office, had prints taken and mug shot. That was on Tue. , the next Wed. the permit was in my hand. $150.00 for whole pkg.

NO reloads allowed in our practical shooting, the sheriff's detective checked everyone !

 

[lpsharp88]

For my permit (Ohio) I had to:
Call and make an appointment to come in to local county sheriff
Print off and fill out the application
Get a 2"x2" photo taken
Get a money order or official bank check for $67
Bring in my DD214 with the above

When I called, it took a couple days to get a call back, and the next available appointment was around 2 weeks later. I came in with my app, picture, check, and DD214. Got called back, the picture I paid to have taken got thrown out, and a new one was taken, then got fingerprinted. My app, check, DD214, etc. was all bundled up, then put in a basket to go on to the next step, and I was sent on my way.

From the time I made my initial call to picking up my permit, about a month. From the day of my appointment to picking it up, 6 days. I believe Ohio law states a 45 day max from date of drop off.

 

[tarosean]

10hr course, fingerprints around a week later, then an approximate 5wk wait...

Renewed in May last year, took 3 wks to get my new one, Then they changed the law in Sep to not require course and proficiency for renewals... Oh well I have another 5yrs to take advantage...

 

[savanahsdad]

I was born with mine...

the way it should be everywhere ...




.

 

[JohnBT]

How long? It was 15 or 20 years ago. I think 5 weeks.

I let my passport expire recently. Oops. I applied at the main Post Office on a Tuesday at noon. The following Tuesday the feds sent me an email that they were processing my application. A week later I got an email that it was on its' way and it arrived the following day.

17 calendar days. And I didn't pay for special processing or anything. I'm still impressed.

 

[dragon813gt]

PA still treats you like a criminal, and requires you to be finger printed yearly, if you work in certain industries around schools. Why yearly seems to be a question no one wants to answer, ($50/yr, hmm, naw, its not a money maker, do ya think? ) but it is what it is if you want to work, and make any kind of reasonable money out here.

Yep, have to do it every year because I'm a contractor that works in schools. I sort of get the need for it. They want to make sure you aren't a pedophile. But a simple check at the clerical level would be simpler and less evasive

And let's not forget PA's illegal handgun registry. That was the concession when they get rid of the waiting period. I hate filling out the form that goes straight to the State Police. Then there are the potential fines if you don't go to a FFL to transfer it properly if you sell it to an individual.

PA isn't perfect but it's better than most. It took me 10 minutes when I renewed my permit this year. It's the same process as acquiring a new one. I walked out w/ the permit(which is on the same plastic as a drivers license) in my hand. I live in Berks county and the Sheriff makes it easy for everyone to obtain CCW permits and NFA items. Chester, Montgomery and Delaware counties make you wait the full two weeks for the permit. There is also more info required in the forms. And they do call your references. You will be issues one. You just have to wait.

 

[kilotanker22]

here in tioga county pa

no finger prints no hassle 25 dollar fee and a pics check and i had my completed permit in 30 minutes.

good for 5 years by the way

 

[kilotanker22]

Yep, have to do it every year because I'm a contractor that works in schools. I sort of get the need for it. They want to make sure you aren't a pedophile. But a simple check at the clerical level would be simpler and less evasive

And let's not forget PA's illegal handgun registry. That was the concession when they get rid of the waiting period. I hate filling out the form that goes straight to the State Police. Then there are the potential fines if you don't go to a FFL to transfer it properly if you sell it to an individual.

PA isn't perfect but it's better than most. It took me 10 minutes when I renewed my permit this year. It's the same process as acquiring a new one. I walked out w/ the permit(which is on the same plastic as a drivers license) in my hand. I live in Berks county and the Sheriff makes it easy for everyone to obtain CCW permits and NFA items. Chester, Montgomery and Delaware counties make you wait the full two weeks for the permit. There is also more info required in the forms. And they do call your references. You will be issues one. You just have to wait.

i am pretty sure that the record of sale goes to your county sheriffs office. either way i have never seen the problem with registering a handgun since it really doesnt take long and in some instances can help you if it were ever lost or stolen.

 

[SleazyRider]

Took me close to 8 months in good ol' New York State about 25 years ago when I moved here from Jersey (Joisey). I owned two Jersey registered handguns at the time, a Colt DS and a Trooper MKIII, which I had to surrender to the NYS Police for storage while my permits were being processed. The process culminated with an interview with the county judge, who was a pretty good egg actually. We chatted about model railroading for most of the interview. I remember asking him about pending legislation for a 10-day "cooling off" period for purchasing a handgun (since I've already had about 8 months to cool off if I were angry at somebody). He scoffed at the notion, dismissing it as a political move so the public thinks politicians are doing something about violent crime. And, no, I don't have a criminal record or even so much as a traffic ticket, and already owned handguns without incident for 15 years prior, not to mention being a veteran with a record of distinguished service. None of that mattered.

These days, the waiting period is much less, usually a month or two.

 

[longknife12]

90 days.
Dan

 

[AK103K]

i am pretty sure that the record of sale goes to your county sheriffs office.

I believe what dragon813gt is referring to is, the State Police refusing to destroy PICS records of people who passed the check, after the required 180 days.

I believe at one point there was a lawsuit, but I dont remember if anything was ever actually settled, and the fact the info goes into a computer, the likelihood of it ever being actually deleted, is pretty slim. I know people who were (by court order) "supposed" to have their records expunged, and 20 years later, it still comes up in a check at different levels.

either way i have never seen the problem with registering a handgun since it really doesnt take long and in some instances can help you if it were ever lost or stolen.

Registration at any level is a bad thing. There is really no "good" to it.

 

[dragon813gt]

No, there is a separate form that goes to the State Police w/ all handgun purchases/transfers. It's on top of the 4473 you fill out that stays w/ the FFL. It has nothing to do w/ the PICs check. It's a registry if they aren't destroying those forms. Yes, no government agency is supposed to have access to the database. Buy why even have one to begin w/?

 

[wproct]

Here in Iowa, I had to take an approved concealed carry/gun safety course, took mine on-line. It took me something short of 2 hours and cost $50. Then I took my certificate of completion of the course to the Sheriff's office and filled out a request for a concealed carry permit and paid the fee of $50 for a 5 year permit. I was told to return in one week, and providing there was no issues with my background check, I could pick my permit up. Went back in a week and was good to go. The whole process took me less than 2 weeks.

I am 68 years old and this is the first CCW permit I have ever owned. In our state, up until about 2 years ago, it was up to the county Sheriff to make the determination of who could receive a permit and who couldn't. Our particular Sheriff issued very few permits. At that time our state adopted a "shall issue" policy that simply stated that if an applicant met the criteria and had no background issues, all county Sheriffs shall issue a permit. I do not plan to carry often, but now I legally can if I so choose.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

deleted

 

[Frosty Dave]

It's downright luxurious how you guys get a license so cheap and fast.

In OK the law gives the state 60 days to issue the license and they take all of that time. By the time all the fees have been paid for the license, the class, and the mug shots, we've killed off most of two $100 bills.

We get fingerprinted at our local sheriff's office but we walk out the door with the print card & application material and mail it all ourselves.

There is now a new-fangled application on that interwebs thing but I don't know how that process goes. I have a suspicion that it's not any quicker or cheaper.

 

[32_d3gr33s]

Paid 125 for the 10 hour class. Paid 115 (I think) to file the paperwork, submit fingerprints and get a background check. Wait almost 4 months and then I had to go in front of the gun board (state police, county prosecuter, judge, and a secretary) and answer all of their questions about my past, then have them vote on whether I get it or not... all of this in a "shall issue" state...