2/20/2009

Florida is way behind in issuing concealed handgun permits

This is a big increase in the percent of people with permits.

Florida can't keep up with concealed weapon permit requests
The state greenlighted funds to hire 61 workers to tackle a backlog of concealed-weapons permit applications.

BY STEVE BOUSQUET
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE -- Floridians in record numbers want to carry concealed weapons, a trend linked to a surge in crime, economic anxiety and fears of stricter gun laws.

The state is buried under a backlog of 95,000 applications for concealed-weapons permits and it needs to hire a lot more people to handle the paperwork. A legislative panel Wednesday gave Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson the OK to spend $3.9 million more so he can hire 61 temporary workers.

''Once the economy gets bad, crime always goes up,'' said Bronson, a police officer. ``People get desperate whenever things are not going the way they feel like they should be going, and they'll do things they normally wouldn't do.''

The state reported a surge in applications in November after the election of President Barack Obama, who in the past has advocated stricter gun control laws but who also campaigned as a defender of Second Amendment rights. Florida received 75,679 first-time concealed-weapon permit applications in 2007 and 86,269 in 2008, in addition to tens of thousands of renewal forms. About 541,000 Floridians have permits for concealed weapons. . . .

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2 Comments:

Blogger The Right Guy said...

So John, should we apply to Utah or Florida? My vote is for Utah, at least to begin with.

2/20/2009 10:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

The Virginia solution is a good one. Virginia state law specifies that the local Sheriff's Dept. has 45 days to complete their background check for the disqualifying factors allowed by the "shall issue" law. If the permit has not been formally denied, then on day 46, a photocopy of your CHP application becomes your "temporary permit."

2/25/2009 12:18 AM  

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