KITTANNING - If you were thinking about making a trip into the Armstrong County Sheriff’s office today to get a conceal-carry permit for your gun, don’t bother.
Chief Deputy Terry Bish said the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is updating the computer verification system in Harrisburg.
“We’re not sure what the new system is going to be like. It will be all new to us on Monday morning. I don’t know the changes. We won’t know until it comes (online) on Monday morning. All we were told is the upgrades are necessary to keep the LTC (license to carry) application process up to date with the newest technology and streamline the process.”
Bish said that the upgrades are being done to the main computer system in Harrisburg and not to the Sheriff’s office system.
“The upgrades are all on their side, and I am assuming it’s just with the technology that they are using to process the applications faster. Basically it is all at their end. We’ve replaced no equipment on our end, no software, no computers, no cameras - nothing that we use. It must be all application on their end.”
Bish said the current method takes approximately 15 minutes and explained the procedure.
“If the system was up and running, you would come in, fill out the application, however long it takes you to do that. We enter the information into the computer system and the (background) checks are run through Pennsylvania Firearms Division. We take your picture. We get your signature. And then, they send us an approval or denial with a number, and that will be your approval number. We approve your permit through the system and we print it out for you.”
Gun permits are issued on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the Sheriff’s office in the original court house building on the first floor.
“We average 200 a month. Some days we will do 30 applications. Some days we do 15. There is never a set amount.”
Bish said that approximately 2,400 applications are processed every year in Armstrong County and licenses are only good for five years.
“You don’t need the ‘License to Carry’ to carry a firearm. (Pennsylvania) is an open-carry state. But as soon as you cover it up with a coat, a shirt, or you get in your vehicle, then you need a license to carry.”
The Sheriff’s office was notified several weeks ago of the transition. They placed announcements on their door informing the public that no permits could be issued today until Monday.
“We’ve had IT over in our department because we had to make sure our operating systems were capable of handling their new upgrades. We had to make sure all of our equipment would handle the upgrades. We passed all that. IT has confirmed everything so we are good to go on our end. We just have to wait for (Harrisburg) to do the process on their end and we will be back up and running.”
If there are any glitches in the system on Monday morning, Bish said he would notify local radio station WTYM AM 1380 for regular updates during hourly newscasts throughout the day.