Slowly but surely things are moving forward.
Jeff
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...&Headline=2+more+counties+accept+applications
2 more counties accept applications
BY TIM ROWDEN
Of the Post-Dispatch
03/29/2004
Richard Brown considers it a point of pride to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
"We've been waiting so long. It's just kind of a status type thing," said Brown, a retired carpenter from Fenton who joined about 60 early-risers lined up outside of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department in Hillsboro Monday hoping to be the first to receive a conceal-carry permit.
Franklin and Jefferson counties began accepting applications for concealed gun permits today. They are the second and third counties in the St. Louis area to accept applications for the permits. St. Charles County began accepting applications a week ago.
Officials in Franklin and Jefferson counties said the process appeared to be going smoothly.
In Jefferson County, Sheriff Oliver "Glenn" Boyer issued numbers to those waiting in line and brought them into the Sheriff's Department in groups of about 10 to avoid overcrowding as applicants filled out the required forms and got fingerprinted. The first group took about an hour to be processed.
Jefferson County charges $100 to apply for a permit. In Franklin County, the fee is $68.
Boyer says part of the $100 fee his department is charging will be used to procure a computerized fingerprint scanner, which is faster and cleaner than the ink blotters the department is currently using.
Boyer says his department has received a grant to purchase the scanner, but must pay $1,800 annually to be linked with a database in Jefferson City to use the service.
Wes Kelley, a landscaper from Cedar Hill, says opponents of the gun law have nothing to worry about from those who are applying for permits.
"The media and the people who are against this law, it's because they have a Hollywood image of guns," Kelley said. "We don't represent that Hollywood image. We're just good people. We're responsible people who carry guns. They people they need to worry about are the bad guys."
The Missouri Supreme Court on Feb. 26 upheld the constitutionality of the new law but ruled that its funding mechanism was off target.
The law allows sheriffs to apply up to a $100 permit fee for training and equipment but not toward the clerical costs of processing the applications and costs associated with records checks and fingerprinting of applicants.
Failing to cover those costs, the Supreme Court ruled, violates the constitutional provision requiring the state to appropriate money to local governments when it requires new duties.
The legal uncertainty has prompted patchwork enforcement of the new law.
The Warren County Sheriff's Department to stop accepting applications and some sheriff's departments, including St. Louis and St. Louis County, have put off accepting applications until questions about the funding provision can be resolved.
Both Franklin and Jefferson counties are having applicants sign an affidavit acknowledging that their permits could be invalid and their processing fee lost if Missouri's concealed guns law ends up back in court.
Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke says the affidavits will ensure that the applicants know that could happen before they pay the fee.
Get more on this story on STLtoday.com later or in tomorrow's Post-Dispatch.
Reporter Tim Rowden:
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 636-500-4110
Jeff
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...&Headline=2+more+counties+accept+applications
2 more counties accept applications
BY TIM ROWDEN
Of the Post-Dispatch
03/29/2004
Richard Brown considers it a point of pride to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
"We've been waiting so long. It's just kind of a status type thing," said Brown, a retired carpenter from Fenton who joined about 60 early-risers lined up outside of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department in Hillsboro Monday hoping to be the first to receive a conceal-carry permit.
Franklin and Jefferson counties began accepting applications for concealed gun permits today. They are the second and third counties in the St. Louis area to accept applications for the permits. St. Charles County began accepting applications a week ago.
Officials in Franklin and Jefferson counties said the process appeared to be going smoothly.
In Jefferson County, Sheriff Oliver "Glenn" Boyer issued numbers to those waiting in line and brought them into the Sheriff's Department in groups of about 10 to avoid overcrowding as applicants filled out the required forms and got fingerprinted. The first group took about an hour to be processed.
Jefferson County charges $100 to apply for a permit. In Franklin County, the fee is $68.
Boyer says part of the $100 fee his department is charging will be used to procure a computerized fingerprint scanner, which is faster and cleaner than the ink blotters the department is currently using.
Boyer says his department has received a grant to purchase the scanner, but must pay $1,800 annually to be linked with a database in Jefferson City to use the service.
Wes Kelley, a landscaper from Cedar Hill, says opponents of the gun law have nothing to worry about from those who are applying for permits.
"The media and the people who are against this law, it's because they have a Hollywood image of guns," Kelley said. "We don't represent that Hollywood image. We're just good people. We're responsible people who carry guns. They people they need to worry about are the bad guys."
The Missouri Supreme Court on Feb. 26 upheld the constitutionality of the new law but ruled that its funding mechanism was off target.
The law allows sheriffs to apply up to a $100 permit fee for training and equipment but not toward the clerical costs of processing the applications and costs associated with records checks and fingerprinting of applicants.
Failing to cover those costs, the Supreme Court ruled, violates the constitutional provision requiring the state to appropriate money to local governments when it requires new duties.
The legal uncertainty has prompted patchwork enforcement of the new law.
The Warren County Sheriff's Department to stop accepting applications and some sheriff's departments, including St. Louis and St. Louis County, have put off accepting applications until questions about the funding provision can be resolved.
Both Franklin and Jefferson counties are having applicants sign an affidavit acknowledging that their permits could be invalid and their processing fee lost if Missouri's concealed guns law ends up back in court.
Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke says the affidavits will ensure that the applicants know that could happen before they pay the fee.
Get more on this story on STLtoday.com later or in tomorrow's Post-Dispatch.
Reporter Tim Rowden:
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 636-500-4110
