Virginia CHP woes

[zogorion]

Well, I guess I don't have much room to complain, but I wanted to share my experience with you guys and see what you thought about it. I'll try to make this short, so here goes. I filled out both required applications, 1 for the circuit court, one for the state police, I was fingerprinted and everything was done on 28 December, 2004. The local PD then sent off my prints and the other application to the VA state police. They said 30-45 days, I'm like "OK." well, 30 days goes by, nothin. 40 days go by, still nothin. Then I look on the VA State Police website, and it says the circuit court of the city you live shall either issue or deny you the permit no later than 45 days from the date of application. If they can't decide to issue it or deny it by 45 days they have to issue you a temporary 90 day CHP, to hold you over till the official one comes in. Well on day 44 i decide to call the circuit court and see what was up, so I would know how to proceed. Well they say "It'll be ready on Monday." Monday, today, 14Feb, day 48 since application. I only emphasize that because on the permit itself, it says Date of Issue: 3Feb05. Which means the circuit court had it for a week before i called them and asked them about it. They hadn't even signed it as of the end of last week. I just wonder how long they would've let me wait for it if I hadn't educated myself on the law. Have you guys had any similar experiences? Let's hear 'em
-Orion

 

[cadfael]

You might want to let the guys at the VCDL know, they keep up on abuses of the system and would probably know if it is systematic or an isolated incident.

Adam

 

[JohnBT]

Sounds like it went pretty smoothly. Not much involving Richmond City goes smoothly, although my permit sailed through and they only kept me cooling my heels for 30 minutes when I went to get it. We'll see how the renewal goes next month. I hope they'll mail it to me so I don't have to pay for parking.

John

 

[XLMiguel]

My first one took 45 days exactly. The last renewal took 39 days. Both times I had to pick it up in person with appropriate picture ID. I'm in the Pipples Republik of Fairfix. Definitely call VCDL if things aren't moving along.

 

[zogorion]

I'm probably just reading too much in to it, as it was probably just a result of sheer laziness on the part of the circuit court clerks staff. But I can't help but think that maybe this clerk might be an Anti, or her staff might be Anti, and maybe they just don't really care about getting CHP's processed quickly unless someone calls them on it. It could be their form of passive resistance to us getting our 2A rights back. The only reason I question it is because I noticed a trend in that darn near everyone on the clerks staff is a minority, with probably 90% being female. Not to make generalizations here, but that is usually not a very Pro-2A group. Probably just the conspiracy theorist in me. I don't know.

 

[XLMiguel]

Yup, reading too much into it - the woman who handled my permit was a middle aged black lady, very pleasant and professional to deal with, and she offered to laminate my permit while I waited

I think it has a lot more to do with management of a given office, though I will allow as how most .gov workers aren't the most energetic bunch I've ever dealt with as a group.

Of course if you really think they're sandbagging, you could call up, ask for the supervisor, explain you complaint, and if they're still uncooperative, ask them if they'd like a Writ of Mandamus with their name on it It will cost you a few bucks to file, but there might be some entertainment value in it. And don't forget to call your state representative and VCDL.

 

[Wayne D]

Don't read too much into it. They misplaced my renewal and I had to call for it too and I'm in rural southwestern VA. And I don't think they did it on purpose because the lady that gave it to me when I picked it up said she thought everybody should have one.