Hi I am new here's my start I submitted my application in May of 2011 and have patiently waited,so on Friday 09/28/2012 I called to see what's taking so long I was informed that everything came back from the judge BUT they cannot find my file, the guy I spoke to said he saw it and logged it in just my luck, Erie county is so slow don't hold your breath it's going to be a while
Erie County, NY Pistol Permit Application Process
- Thread starter porcupine73
- Start date
AC Orange
New member
Well I started to question myself that maybe I posted the wrong year but I looked at my receipt from the county clerks office and it was 05/04/2011, but during that time I was battling pancreatic cancer so it wasn't a priority for me now that I'm cured thank God I want it, as I write this I'm getting pissed and I'm calling tomorrow I want some answers this is ********
AC Orange
New member
.
Holy cow, something must've gone seriously off the rails. Glad to hear you were able to beat the illness. Good luck on your permit, hopefully they will get the process rolling from wherever it left off. Let us know how it turns out.
.
Well as it turns out my permit came this morning FINALLY but as I was suspecting it came as a hunting and target,Erie County really sucks but at least it's a start,I would like to get a compact gun though I don't want them to think I will carry and I should be able to, off to buy a gun
Countryboy82
New member
Just followed up with the PPD and they stated my permit is at the local PD. I haven't been contacted yet but I wanted to find out how many of you followed up with them to see where they were at in their process concerning your own permit? I'm just glad it's made it this far after 7 months!
jamiejones
New member
I called about a month ago and was told mine and a bunch of others are hung at mental health check.... it will be seven months Nov. 1st for me....
My state senator and representative are aware of the problem and trying. If you think Gov. Cuomo gives a rat's rear, I've got a bridge to sell you. He would be delighted to hear that there are delays and telling him what the delays are my encourage him to put more roadblocks up. He was the anti gun czar of the Clinton administration, if you think back.
absolut1377
New member
Just called the Erie County office to try and check on the status of my upgrade application I submitted a just over two months ago. I was told they can't give me an update, they typically go out in batches of 150-200 and the wait is approximately 4 months.
absolut1377
New member
Friday I received a response to my upgrade request saying I had been approved. Submitted on 8/21 letter on 11/2.
A little shocked and pleasantly surprised.
A little shocked and pleasantly surprised.
wildmann567
New member
How long did you wait before you applied for unrestricted . I've had my permit for over a year now but I'm only 25 so i figure i better wait to full recommended 5 years seeing as I work a boring job and have no real need to carry besides self defense
FTWNY
New member
Congrats! Usually the judge will answer this request as fast as he can. This also depends on his workload at the time you submit, which has been very heavy lately!
absolut1377
New member
I waited just over two years and took a couple classes in that time as well
Justa4door
New member
Hey all New here .. Im in catt county and just got my CCW permit in 4 weeks .. its crazy that 20 miles south from buffalo we can get it that fast ..with no classes.. and no restrictions .. if anyone wants to go shooting or has places to go let me know
Mike
Mike
New to the site but have read a lot of posts. I filed my permit almost a year ago in Erie county, well as you prob know I'm still waiting. Does anyone know the average wait time for Erie county? Is there anything I can do to speed it up, maybe call them or something? Will calling them make any difference? I just read on this site that it is suppose to be 6 months after you hand it in and if for some reason it is delayed then they have to notify you in writing why it is taking longer. I don't understand how they can seat there and break the law when we as gun owners are trying to do the right thing by obtaining a license, and they don't care about the laws they break. I am so frustrated with this whole process. I have a friend of mine that turned his in, in Niagara county and 3 day later all his references have already been called and everything, I am still waiting for mine to be contacted, there is something wrong in Erie county. I did hear that there is some kind of problem going on in Albany with mental health checks, but come on already, hire someone, there's millions of people out of work I'm sure someone can type a name into a computer and check. So if anyone has any info they would like to share or any suggestions on what I can do that would be great. Hope to see you on the range someday, Bubba.
The 6-month provision is interpreted by the pistol permit office to mean 6 months from the time the application is submitted to the judge, not 6-months from the time the application is submitted to the pistol permit office. The judge doesn't get your application until the background check has been completed. I think there is a decent argument that their interpretation is wrong, but it has yet to be decided by any court.
There are four delay points in the process. The first is getting the paperwork out of the pistol permit office and over to the investigative agency. The second is getting the investigative agency to complete the investigation and return the paperwork back to the pistol permit for processing. The third is getting the paperwork processed by the pistol permit office and sent to the judge. the fourth is getting the judge to act on the application (he has 6 months to do so under their interpretation.)
Most of the delays in the past few years have been during the third phase - the investigative agency.
You can call the pistol permit office to inquire about the status of your application. Ask them if it has gone out to the investigative agency and if so then ask for the contact person in that investigative agency. Then call the investigative agency and try to make contact with the assigned officer. Ask him or her if it would help if you have your references try to reach him instead of him trying to chase them down. That sometimes helps.
But other than that, there isn't much can do unless you want to test the 6-month issue by bringing an Article 78 proceeding.
golocx4
Got Beretta's?
Erie County Pistol Permit Delay explained.
NoGods, you are pretty close.
There has been efforts by the Erie County Chapter of SCOPE on this matter and being personally involved this is what I know.
Here is what is going on and how the process is trying to be improved.
The first is getting the paperwork out of the pistol permit office and over to the investigative agencies. NIC Check, Mental Health, Local PD. The old way and the current way are to send the actual physical packet of original paperwork. We are trying to break this paradigm and use electronic transfers, after all it is 2012 and not 1970. As you read on remember that packets of applications are being sent to and fro and the opportunity for loosing them is greater.
This is Step one. You have to be cleared by the Mental Health Office in Albany first.
Step Two: Then once that is completed your file is physically transported to the Police Dept responsible based on your residence.
Now you are at the mercy of the investigative agency to complete the investigation and return the paperwork back to the pistol permit for processing. It depends on the agency.
Step Three: Some are able to contact your references in 30 days, others are so freaking incompetent or lazy or simply anti gun that they take 8 to 14 months. (Totally unacceptable) The law says this must be done without unnecessary delay. So if there is unnecessary delay is the law being broken?
There is no set rule, or standard. There are about 57 Towns Villages and others in Erie County. Some Local PD's do the background and other are done by the County Sheriff.
The LAW says the "investigating agency has the responsibility to verify that everything on the application is truthful".Period.
By law that is what they are supposed to do, nothing more and nothing less.
Not to many do the same thing.
Step Four: One the physical packet is returned to the PPO it is processed and put in piles to go the Judge for signature.
Step Five: It goes to the judge in bundles.
Step Six: Once it is signed, it goes into another pile
Step Seven: and when your packet comes up, the letter is created and mailed.
The Erie County Chapter of SCOPE has be active in getting this situation fixed.
We met with the PPO in 2011 and the process 4 through 7 were improved.
in 2012 we met with Sheriff Tim Howard and when we related the process and delay times he was kind of shocked.
He has been putting thing in place to streamline things too.
The Mental Health checks have been backlogged for much of 2012 (this has just created an additional delay) This is about to be streamlined and done electronically. Not much solace for the people already in the system.
The Local PD delays are still a problem and need to be brought up as election issues for your town and village races. There needs to be a meeting of the local Chiefs and politicians to determine best practice's and develop standards. Or, go to the town meetings and put some pressure on the Chief's to do their freakin jobs. SCOPE is trying to arrange a meeting with Erie County Clerk - PPO - Local Chiefs to to just that. More news at 11.
Some PD's send letters to the references, other interview face to face. (what a waste of manpower)
I have had and done background checks done for Government Jobs that were not as extensive as this crap.
Erie County Sheriff interviews a neighbor which is not spelled out in the law.
The law also says
Bottom line, SCOPE is the only group that I am aware of that is trying to fix this unacceptable issue. Is it easy? Hell no!
NoGods, you are pretty close.
There has been efforts by the Erie County Chapter of SCOPE on this matter and being personally involved this is what I know.
Here is what is going on and how the process is trying to be improved.
The first is getting the paperwork out of the pistol permit office and over to the investigative agencies. NIC Check, Mental Health, Local PD. The old way and the current way are to send the actual physical packet of original paperwork. We are trying to break this paradigm and use electronic transfers, after all it is 2012 and not 1970. As you read on remember that packets of applications are being sent to and fro and the opportunity for loosing them is greater.
This is Step one. You have to be cleared by the Mental Health Office in Albany first.
Step Two: Then once that is completed your file is physically transported to the Police Dept responsible based on your residence.
Now you are at the mercy of the investigative agency to complete the investigation and return the paperwork back to the pistol permit for processing. It depends on the agency.
Step Three: Some are able to contact your references in 30 days, others are so freaking incompetent or lazy or simply anti gun that they take 8 to 14 months. (Totally unacceptable) The law says this must be done without unnecessary delay. So if there is unnecessary delay is the law being broken?
There is no set rule, or standard. There are about 57 Towns Villages and others in Erie County. Some Local PD's do the background and other are done by the County Sheriff.
The LAW says the "investigating agency has the responsibility to verify that everything on the application is truthful".Period.
By law that is what they are supposed to do, nothing more and nothing less.
Not to many do the same thing.
Step Four: One the physical packet is returned to the PPO it is processed and put in piles to go the Judge for signature.
Step Five: It goes to the judge in bundles.
Step Six: Once it is signed, it goes into another pile
Step Seven: and when your packet comes up, the letter is created and mailed.
The Erie County Chapter of SCOPE has be active in getting this situation fixed.
We met with the PPO in 2011 and the process 4 through 7 were improved.
in 2012 we met with Sheriff Tim Howard and when we related the process and delay times he was kind of shocked.
He has been putting thing in place to streamline things too.
The Mental Health checks have been backlogged for much of 2012 (this has just created an additional delay) This is about to be streamlined and done electronically. Not much solace for the people already in the system.
The Local PD delays are still a problem and need to be brought up as election issues for your town and village races. There needs to be a meeting of the local Chiefs and politicians to determine best practice's and develop standards. Or, go to the town meetings and put some pressure on the Chief's to do their freakin jobs. SCOPE is trying to arrange a meeting with Erie County Clerk - PPO - Local Chiefs to to just that. More news at 11.
Some PD's send letters to the references, other interview face to face. (what a waste of manpower)
I have had and done background checks done for Government Jobs that were not as extensive as this crap.
Erie County Sheriff interviews a neighbor which is not spelled out in the law.
The law also says
The rules for what is in the application are also spelled out in the law. Nothing more and nothing less is allowed by law, and the words "without unnecessary delay" are written five time in the law.
Bottom line, SCOPE is the only group that I am aware of that is trying to fix this unacceptable issue. Is it easy? Hell no!
