108 day thread w/sheriff interactionI finally sat down and wrote an email to my representatives in the state general assembly:All,I am reaching out to you because you are my state reps, and the clerk of court for [redacted] county falls under state authority, from what I've been told. Commissioner [redacted], I've included you both for follow up, and because the county provides some funding for the clerk of court.I decided to apply for a concealed carry permit after the Tennessee Naval Reserve Center shooting, because I am active duty NG stationed in [redacted]. I estimate there are 50-80 active duty personnel in our county of 1.2 million. That makes us stand out, as we wear a uniform that makes us a symbol of the government, and therefore target to some, daily. I'm not a card carrying NRA type, nor do I believe there should be no limits to how the 2nd amendment is interpreted. I simply want to exercise my right to arm myself for protection, in accordance with state law.I am currently on day 110 of my wait for my concealed carry permit. This is inanity; states like CA and NY, not exactly known as bastions of freedom for firearms rights, issue within this time frame. State law only allows 45 days, with the caveat that all medical records are received.This caveat wouldn't be an awful delay, had the [redacted] general assembly had the foresight to place a timeline on the clerks of court or medical facilities to release information to the sheriffs. But without that, there is absolutely ZERO incentive for the clerks of court to make getting a "form 19" to the sheriff, and this is the reason that concealed carry permits are taking an unprecedented time to be issued. Her office is currently months behind in this process due to what I perceive as a lack of oversight or accountability. In fact, state law only allows for 14 days for pistol purchase permits, and the clerks are causing sheriffs to be in violation of the law. The only other option would be for sheriffs to deny all PPP at the 14 day mark. [redacted] being a shall issue state, this could open the sheriff's up to legal issues with infringing upon citizen's rights.I'm grateful the GA had the foresight to add a mental health check to the law. It is good that there is follow up on the federal requirement that those "declared mentally deficient" or who have been "involuntarily committed" not be given the means to purchase handguns. What I'm not grateful for, is a group, many of which are lawyers, not having the foresight to see where policy is going to be difficult to implement.I would appreciate if you all could reach out to the [redacted] clerk of court, and demand she come up with a plan and fix this backlog, immediately. This is unacceptable, and to be blunt, a direct infringement upon the county's citizen's constitutional rights. You can call it a "delay" or "procedure" but the truth of the matter is that people aren't able to exercise a constitutional right due to an elected official not performing their job.Personally, I'm very close to starting to shout from the rooftops how I, somebody who has served 15 years and counting, 1 of those in Iraq, am being denied one of the rights I have fought for. If this means 2AF, NRA, or even media involvement, so be it.I would like to say that the [redacted] sheriff's office has been extremely transparent about what is going on, and it is greatly appreciated.I have never before reached out to my local or state representatives on an issue. I hope to see you all take action, so that I may have confidence in placing my vote for you in November.Thank you for your time, and consideration. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/1Sp3ox4
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