Do You Remember Getting Your First Concealed Carry Permit?

Kentucky passed the "Shall Issue" law in 1998 I think. My then wife and I signed up for the required classes as soon as possible. It required passing a written test after and 8 hour course, and then you had to fire something like 36-40 rounds into a B27 target from 7 yards and have something like 80% of your rounds in the black. (I could do it blindfolded after being placed in front of the target) Then you were supposed to show that you could disassemble your weapon and clean it.

I was working a lot of weekends, but took off a Sat. to go to the class, but I couldn't make it to the shooting portion. My instructor was a locale Deputy Sheriff, and was kind enough to come to my house the following weekend, to allow us to qualify at my own range.

I had the targets all ready and the distance marked off. We both shot the required rounds as instructed. He then looked at the targets and said "I can't count all of those holes grouped so closely, so I'm sure you both know how to clean your weapons. You pass."

I've carried everyday since, and in 2019 Kentucky dropped the permit requirements to carry concealed. I've since divorced and remarried, but still pay my permit fees every 5 years, so I don't have to wait when purchasing a firearm, plus it's honored in states that reciprocate.

Our overall crime rate has dropped, but I'll continue to carry one as long as I own one too carry. It's part of getting dressed each day to me.
 
Necessary long--sorry

I lived in Albany and tried to get my pistol permit in the late 60s. City of Albany realy did not want to issue them unless you were connected. They would do anything to not issue. Some of their little tricks were, they had no pistol permit applications. Check back later we should have some soon.(Yeah right) Finely get the paper work turn it in and wait. Then find out they have no record of it, start over. Then have a talk with a officer and he implies you will not get one because they do not like armed civilians.

Got married and moved out to a large suburban town. Of course you have to wait 6 months to get residency. Get your paper work fill it out and make arrangements to get finger printed. Get a appointment show up at station, get told the Detective is out working a case. Make another appointment, same thing busy Detective. Finely get your prints taken and wait &wait call the station and find out they are not moving too fast.

Finely all is done including a background check of your 4 character witnesses. Chief of police signs off. Only 1 step left is to have your paperwork sent to the courthouse for a judges signature. Now it gets considered and considered and considered. (Its basically dead in the water)

Talked to a friends father who has some good pull and finely it goes to the judge. A month later you get your permit. At that time basically all upstate permits were issued unrestricted, which meant you could carry concealed. So after about 3 years of BS in 72 I got my permit

By that time I was a NRA instructor and RO at my club. Then a couple years later the Judge said he would sign no more permits unless a safety course was held. He wanted the police to do it.:eek:

We went to the judge knowing full well if they did it it would be one more hindrance to a issue. We talked to the judge and a curriculum was set up that pleased the judge and he allowed our certified instructors to do the course.

Now today things move much better but it still takes a lot of time, and most permits issued now say hunting or fishing which means in plain English not to be carried concealed. In my state you have to have a pistol permit to own, possess, have a handgun even in your own home

Now some of the more lenient judges will allow a none restricted permit after a waiting period and a bunch more classes.

I well remember getting my pistol permit!:rolleyes:
 
Interesting that this discussion opens with a couple posts from folks who got the early Ohio License to Carry a Concealed Handgun. Indeed it went live in 2004 and I was beyond disgusted with it. It was very poorly written and executed but it gave us a "starting point" and it has been a work in progress ever since. Amongst other problems, the worst facet of it (IMO and the opinion of many) was the purely moronic wording of how to legally carry in a motor vehicle.

Short version is that with the license you could carry concealed out in the world BUT ONLY IN THE OPEN if you were in a vehicle. It quickly got dubbed "the Buckeye tuck" and it sucked out loud. And it bothered me specifically because I did most of my travel via motorcycle and there were no specifics written to make any allowances for that, so I would have had to had my gun visible for the entire time I was on the bike, only being allowed to concealed after stepping off.

Over time and NUMEROUS changes, our laws got updated and improved. No carry in a restaurant that served alcohol was particularly horrendous.

Short story long, I waited until the fall of 2008 before getting my license.
 
Got mine in the mail three days after it became legal - 1996. Felt strange to legally carry after a few years of carrying outside the law. Now, I rarely carry, but that bugger is always in my truck, and close by.
 
Not long after i got home to Florida from my last duty station, the state went shall issue. I picked up the packet from my LGS within a week or two of when the law took effect. Filled it out, got fingerprinted at the city PD station and sent it all in with a copy of my DD-214. I got my permit just before the 90 days that was being quoted as the turn around time. Just after that, the system got clogged up from the influx of new applications and it went to 6-8 month wait! First one was good for three years and the intervals have gradually increased. Now Florida permits are good for seven years. The process for renewal has gotten progressively quicker and less painful over the years as well(pre-covid anyway). I last renewed in 2018 in a small town tax collector office. I was in and out in 15 minutes and got my renewed permit with new picture in the mail within two weeks.
 
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My first carry permit was in 1977, in CT. Carry permits were a lot more limited back then, and a lot of states did not offer that option.

Funny thing for me, was that in 1977 I was 18 years old. I could legally carry a handgun with my new permit, but could not purchase one until I was 21. The local gunshops got to know my mother on a first name basis during those years, and were impressed with "her" growing collection...:)

Fast forward to 1995, and I work for the DOJ, and have transferred to PA. Local Sheriff is the issuing authority. Even though I don't need a carry permit, take the wife with me, and go visit the county Sheriff. One page form, ID check, and 10 minutes later, I have my permit. Wife asks me, "maybe I should get one?". Sheriff overhears her, and says "why not", and hands her a form. She fills it in, hands it to him. He turns to me and asks "Is she OK?" I say "Sure", and he gives her a permit.

Larry
 
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tlawler said:
Not long after i got home to Florida from my last duty station, the state went shall issue. I picked up the packet from my LGS within a week or two of when the law took affect. Filled it out, got fingerprinted at the city PD station and sent it all in with a copy of my DD-214...
Click to expand...

Some states with training requirements allow vets (DD-214) to bypass that requirement. From Alabama I PCSed to Arkansas, and at that time they had no permits. Go figure. Back on the wrong side of the law, although it was mostly over looked. Then to Texas where they were working on getting the law together. Georgia has a pretty simple process but not as simple as my first in Alabama. No moral turpitude here. I had a 6-7 year gap before state laws caught up with the free world.
 
It was 1976 and the city I grew up in was pretty good about it in a state that even then wasn't very 2A friendly.

It helped that I grew up there and my dad had a couple of friends who were police officers.
 
I got mine in '98 before I got married. I figured since I was moving to the big city, Pittsburgh, I better have a permit to carry. Wasn't a big deal. Filled out the application & threw that man a 20 & uh, waited a week and went & picked it up. Didn't even have to take a picture. I think it's still $20, every 5 years. They actually send a letter when it's getting close to expire. Also, it's good for quite a while after it expires in case you don't have time to go down & get it; either 6 weeks or months, can't remember. We have to take a picture now. Friendliest guys in the whole town of Pittsburgh!
 
Back in 74. In Va. then it was a pita and sometimes had to see the judge, usually took long time but my Dad knew the judge, went in and he asked me a few questions, signed off on form, Done deal. Have had one in 3 states, so far Fl. is best, think its good in 40+ other states?
 
"Concealed carry" Oh, to be so lucky....
Here "Down Under" we can transport from our home to a club range, or to a gunsmith, and even then it has to be in a locked box :(
 
A few years ago I went to my county courthouse to apply for a carry permit. I didn't care for the dollar amount and changed my mind. The look on the clerk's face was hilarious when I asked for the return of my drivers license. That's as close as I've come.
 
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