Dropped off my paperwork

[Netzapper]

I just dropped off my paperwork, did the interview, and got printed for a PA license to carry a concealed weapon.

I have to say the interview was nothing at all like I expected. I really expected to be quizzed on use of force, carry laws, where I'm allowed to carry, etc. Turned out that the interview was really just a replication of the application ("Are you a convicted felon?", "Ever been arrested?", etc.), and a few extra questions ("What's your mother's maiden name?", "Do you have any tattoos or scars?"). It was a little disappointing, really. Especially since I spent the weekend studying PA law.

Oh well, at least I know it now, ya' know?

Anyway, in four to six weeks, I get my response.

I can't wait.

[mete]

I hope you're getting training...After having a PA permit for years I recently found you can't carry in a PA state park. A week later I was at a state park for the first time !In the past at least, states gave you the permit but not a rule book.

[Avizpls]

netzapper, where in PA are you? in Beaver County, I and four people I know (all 21 at the time) were granted a permit that day. within fifteen minutes of walking in the door. Wonder whats different, and whats normal

[Netzapper]

mete: I do intend to get training before I actually begin carrying. However, I intend to get it primarily for practical purposes (you know, it'd be nice to have somebody teach me a little bit about how to draw, shoot from retention, etc.).

The laws, though, aren't that difficult to understand, though. Between packing.org, and the unified state statutes, it'd not hard to get a picture of what you can and can't do.

Avizpls: I'm in center-city Philadelphia. I was informed that, while it may take 4-6 weeks, it's very likely to take much less time than that.

My record is clean, and the only involvement I've ever had with law enforcement was a 30-minute questioning about a shooting that I was apparently a couple of blocks from while I was out smoking a cigarette in Springfield, MO. Of course, I told the interviewer about this when she asked if I'd ever been in custody or detained. However, since I wasn't ever suspected, arrested, or charged, it's not a problem.

[mete]

I got my carry permits BEFORE there was an internet !.. Take the time effort and money to get the best training course you can find. It will be worth every penny !

[625]

Here in PA it varies from county to county. I just moved from Delaware county to Montgomery county. I had to wait 4-6 weeks in DelCo, but here in MontCo, I just have to take the paperwork I picked up at the county capital's sheriff's office over to my local police station, have them fill in some blanks, then return the paperwork where I picked it up. Then they do an instant check of my past. Then I walk out with my new permit. :)
They took your finger prints Netzapper?

[RoyG]

It took one week mailbox to mailbox to get my non-res PA permit. No interview or phone call. $20 MO, two passport photos, the application, a copy of my home state permit, and a SASE is all it took.

[Netzapper]

625: Yeah, they took my prints on the neatest machine I've seen in a long time of playing with, fixing, and programming machines. Unfortunately, the tech didn't know a damn thing about it, and so she couldn't answer any of my questions.

The thing is in Philly, we had something like 80 shootings in the first two months of the year (massive gang war, along with some random stuff thrown in). Thus, the Mayor did the John Street Thing and told them to crack down heavy on everything having to do with guns within the city limits.

We even successfully passed a city council resolution to ignore state gun laws... supposedly, we're going to preempt state laws (in direct violation of the non-preemption clause) and impose a massive facist crackdown on everything from sales to CCLs.

Whatever... I'll sue the city if they pull something like this. At least that's a worthwhile use of our litigious governmental system.

I'm starting to see why the rest of the state hates Philly. That said, it's the only reason I'm in PA at all.

[Jerkeejoe]

Thats great that it only takes a month to hear back. Here in Nevada, we have to take a class by a certified instructor, get fingerprinted, photos, etc..., and then wait four months to receive the permit. I got my non-res Utah before I got my resident Nevada.

[Avizpls]

You shouldnt be happy about 'only' a month wait. Ten minutes. on the spot. Thats how it is for me on the other side of PA, and how it should be everywhere

[bclark1]

i got my PA carry permit by mail inside a week. centre county sheriff's good people :)

[res1b3uq]

Got my Texas permit in the mail today. Two months and two days after I mailed it in.