bennor
join:2006-07-22
New Haven, CT
|  Pistol Permit Application Processing Time By Local PD in CT
Has anyone here tried to get a pistol permit in CT and had the town police sit on the application for longer than the form indicates. The form New Haven PD gave me indicated a processing time of 8 to 10 weeks.
New Haven PD has had mine since LAST October and have not called or sent a letter as to it's status. My calls to the NHPD Firearms unit (who deal with the applications) are met with "oh, it'll be in the next batch we process", or just a generic "were still processing it and will call you when it's been processed".
I knew it wasn't going to go well when I first requested the forms and received several documents and a green form, several of which listed conflicting information on fees that needed to be paid. When I call the firearms unit to clarify the fees and inquire about the conflicting information they were confused as well  on the fees and documents. |
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mcevoys
join:2002-02-06
Ridgefield, CT | I'm pretty sure that there's a specific timeline that they have to act within...by statute.
I'd contact a local gun shop and ask if they know the statute (unless someone here can cite it). |
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bennor
join:2006-07-22
New Haven, CT
edit:
March 24th, @07:57PM
| Mcevoys thanks for the response and hopefully others can chime in with any info they have.
The only info I can find is this on the state website: "The issuing authority has 8 weeks to review your application and approve or deny. A denial may be appealed to the Board of Firearm Permit Examiners as provide in C.G.S. Section 29-32."
»www.ct.gov/DPS/cwp/view.asp?a=2158&q=294502
They say the issuing authority has 8 weeks to approve or deny. But don't mention what to do IF the local authority decided not to deny the permit, but NOT issue it either by the end of 8 weeks. If it's denied I can contact the state board of firearms permit examiners. However the state board apparently has a two-year backlog of cases. And apparently one of their own board members had his permit revoked when it was supposed to be renewed and has to wait two years for his case to be heard according to news reports last year.
So far the few calls I’ve made to local gun stores and ranges has yield general information only (due to the vagueness of the CT gun laws) and they've basically said it's up to the local police and they can do what ever they want due to the “suitability clause” in the licensing statute. And calls to the NHPD have yielded a range of reasons why they haven’t processed it. One of the things they've told me is they are understaffed and the person who handles the permits only works part time (one or two days a week) and there is a huge backlog with permit requests. |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT
| reply to bennor
Wow, that's a little excessive IMHO. The Wallingford PD took about 4-6 weeks to process mine. It actually arrived before I expected it to. The turnaround was very quick.
October? Something isn't right. I think you should make a call to the Department of Public Safety: »www.ct.gov/dps/site/default.asp
IIRC, New Haven had a bit of an issue with issuing permits and the Department of Public Safety had to look into it. This article is a bit old, but it highlights the problems: »query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h···nted=all
Again, I'd really look into this. You should have had that by December at the very latest.
»www.usacarry.com/index.php/conne···ion.html
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Legal ATVing in Connecticut? |
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bennor
join:2006-07-22
New Haven, CT
| Thanks Genn for the comments. I've been to all the links except the NYT one. That one was interesting as the guy appears to experience the same problems as I am experiencing right now. For the life of me I cannot understand why the NHPD does this other than to piss off it's residents. And then they wonder why the residents of this town don't like them.
I guess I'll have to make another call up to the state board again to see if there is anything they can do. The problem is the last time they indicated they really couldn't do anything until I received a rejection notice. |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT
| Keep me posted. Like I said, in theory, this should be a simple process. My experience with the Wallingford PD was excellent. My local permit arrived on time, if not early. I'm confident that once the finger prints cleared with the FBI, they processed the paperwork and the chief signed off on it.
I don't know what the hold up is in New Haven. Maybe you'll want to bring them a copy of the statute stating that the processing shall not take longer than 8 weeks?
Again, I can't believe they've sat on it for that long. That's just not right. You should have an answer by now.
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Legal ATVing in Connecticut? |
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harlenm
join:2002-09-02
Shelton, CT
edit:
March 26th, @03:41PM
| reply to bennor
Call the Special Licensing and firearms division of the state police((860) 685-8290) and tell them that they are sitting on your application. See what they can tell you.
My permit application took 17 weeks, this was 9 years ago before they changed the process. |
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bennor
join:2006-07-22
New Haven, CT
| reply to bennor
Some partial movement. Left voice mail message this morning for the NHPD Firearms unit asking about status. No call back of course. Called again around 4 pm and finally got a detective who said they were "going to call me" about setting up an interview time. I had to bite my tongue to avoid saying something sarcastic like; "When? In another 5 months". I asked for the earliest possible time (tomorrow thank goodness) for an interview appointment. Apparently New Haven does an interview (which is bogus and not required by state statute by the way) and then they send the permit application on to the Chief for him to OK or reject. Well the NHPD chief is retiring in two weeks (I think) so it will be interesting to see what they say about the turn around time between the interview and the acceptance or rejection and how they inform me of that. The detective I spoke with did apologise and claimed (don't know if I believe it) that they've got a big backlog of permits.
I also called the State Police Special Licensing and Firearms Division this morning and got voice mail for the Firearms section, I left a message with them indicating that NHPD has been slow (as in 5 months slow) in processing my permit application and gave them the various reasons NHPD has given me every time I've spoken with them. I doubt they'll call back. |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT | If things don't get moving, it may be worth making a visit to the Department of Public Safety...just to explain what's going on.
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Legal ATVing in Connecticut? |
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bennor
join:2006-07-22
New Haven, CT
| reply to bennor
Well after the interview this morning, the detective that did the interview claims they'll have the form ready some time next week and they'll call me when it's ready to be picked up. He apologized several times for the delay and claims they're hiring more people to process the permit forms.
I will be calling them by Wednesday of next week if they don't call me before then. And the questions they asked during the interview were things like; have you ever been arrested, do you currently own any guns (if so what types), any domestic problems, any problems with neighbors, how long have you lived in New Haven, ever had a pistol permit, and the very last question that always gets asked was, why do you want a pistol permit. I asked him if anyone ever said anything other than target practice or self defense. He laughed and said if they said anything that didn't fall into those two categories they'd reject them on the spot.
bottom line is there might, just might, be light at the end of this very long tunnel NHPD has taken me through with the pistol permit. |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT | I'm still really amazed that it took so long. By all means, keep us posted on the process.
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Legal ATVing in Connecticut? |
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Tracker09
join:2004-02-05
New Haven, CT | reply to bennor
Are you even still mad anymore? |
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bennor
join:2006-07-22
New Haven, CT
| said by Tracker09  :Are you even still mad anymore? Not really mad just frustrated. I knew I was going to get jerked around on this based on my previous, and only other, dealing with the NHPD. In that case they changed an car accident report (with white out) after the fact to contradict what the officer told me on the scene of the accident.
What was so frustrating here is that it took three calls to them initially after they handed me the forms to figure out what fees were needed and what forms needed to be filled out due to the conflicting town information and the state form information. The detectives in the firearms division who I spoke to was just as confused about the forms as I was when he actually read through them during one of my calls.
It is also frustrating that this state has such confusing laws on guns and the permit process and that when I ask people like police officers and gun shop employees I get a wide range of conflicting responses. But thankfully we're not as bad as Jersey. |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT | reply to bennor
I almost wonder if they're sitting on them. It sounds like they don't take action unless someone calls or shows up to talk about it. Just an assumption.
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Legal ATVing in Connecticut? |
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bennor
join:2006-07-22
New Haven, CT
| said by Glenn :I almost wonder if they're sitting on them. It sounds like they don't take action unless someone calls or shows up to talk about it. Just an assumption. That's exactly what I think they are doing. But the towns will never openly admit to doing it. Two of my coworkers got theirs in less than two months (one in West Haven and the other in Woodbridge). The problem is there really isn't a recourse for the applicant since the state board only gets involved when the application is rejected.
During my pistol training class the instructor claimed that the state tried to streamline, standardize, and consolidate the permit process years ago but the towns road blocked it. The instructor claimed one of the main reasons the towns did not want a standard state run process was they would loose out of their cut of the fees (including additional ones they, try to, add above and beyond the state fees). |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT
| I'm glad to hear you followed up on it. It makes you wonder how many people just let it slip through the cracks. Sadly, not a lot of people know the laws and their rights under those laws.
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Legal ATVing in Connecticut? |
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harlenm
join:2002-09-02
Shelton, CT
| reply to bennor
And the more people that just let the cities/towns/state do whatever they want without questioning it, the more they will do to restrict our freedoms worse.
It's like open carry. Its perfectly legal in the state, but try doing it and see how quickly you will be arrested. Although maybe things will change with the current batch of lawsuits going against the state/towns in regards to pistol permits and open carry.
It's about time some people stand up for our rights. |
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Glenn
I'D Rather Be Skiing
Premium
join:2000-10-05
Wallingford, CT | I agree 100%. A lot of people forget that these rights were granted with the founding of our country.
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Legal ATVing in Connecticut? |
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bennor
join:2006-07-22
New Haven, CT
| reply to bennor
Standing up for our rights can lead to much frustration though.  I called starting Wednesday, three to four times a day in the hopes of getting someone in the NHPD Firearms Unit. Kept getting dumped into voice mail every time and no one answers the phone there.  I've left several messages but no call back of course.
And the five month wait now turns into six... |
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disconnected
@sbcglobal.net
| reply to Glenn
said by Glenn :I agree 100%. A lot of people forget that these rights were granted with the founding of our country. Owning a gun is not a right in this country (if a permit is required. Rights are not licensable. Only privilages granted by the state are. Some perverse Constitution we have.. |
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