Author Topic: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?  (Read 2569 times)

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Offline shooter

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Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« on: June 03, 2007, 06:03:46 PM »
Hello everybody ,
      Bought a pistol 9 weeks ago and im still waiitng for my permit to be updated to get my pick-up coupon.The Judge is bogged-down i'm told but this is crazy.I've had a permit since 1983 and have never waited longer than a week.Last year ,before the previous judge was promoted ,a person could get their coupon within 15 minutes (and another background check ofcourse).I've asked the clerk at the pistol permit bureau if this new judge is anti-gun or something thats making him drag his feet-she says "no".Think of the gunshop owners who are waiting 9 weeks and more to close a handgun sale .Is there anything a citizen can do ? Do they have to update these things in a timely manner ? what is a timely manner ?
Shooter venting :'(
Shooter

Offline Mikey

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2007, 01:59:57 AM »
Regrettably, this is usually 'judge specific'.....  Our last jusdge in my county had a pretty fast turn-around; about a week I think.  One of the judges before him was pretty abysmal.

There's not a lot you can do without whizzin' him off.  Some of the judges who are now in charge of the process care little for pistols and permit holders.  Even if you band together withother permit holders and threaten a class action suit it will only make him drag his feet more. 

Perhaps a letter to the judge asking him why he denies you your rights to gun ownership might help.  Maybe somone in one of the gun clubs in your locale has had better experiences and can help.  Mikey.

Offline shooter

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #2 on: June 04, 2007, 04:30:06 PM »
Mikey ,
    I wrote an email to the president of the Federated Sportsmen of Ulster County last week because i saw a webpost somewhere describing this problem and implying it was getting better.Needless to say ,i wrote him and told him of my plight and that of hundreds of other Ulster County Permit holders.Geez , its not like im applying for my permit ,im applying for an ammendment.It only took me 6 months to get my CCW in the 1st place.
Shooter :'(
Shooter

Offline Mikey

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2007, 03:48:54 PM »
Shooter - some of these dang judges believe they are beyond reproach of any sort and don't give a squat about political pressure or public concern.  Weinstein (Brklyn) is one of them and although this guy should be removed from the bench after having demonstrated intractable prejudice he is still there. 

Truth is that someone had to appoint him to his position - whether he can be removed is a question but whoever appointed him may be more subject to political pressure than the judge.  The other thing you have to look at is whether it is the judge or the cops involved in the process - they can slow things down incredibly. 

I believe the process is 'discoverable', which means it is open to public view - they can't hide it even though they never talk about it.  It involves fingerprinting, background checks and finally, local (judge approval).  If the cops drag their feet it can take forever but if you already have your permit there is no excuse for having to wait so long to get the judge to sign the amendment form and grant you ownership. 

Often, judges don't like to listen to anyone except lawyers so it may be necessary to get one involved - I wonder if your county sportsmans association has one they can recommend.  You can always have your attorney approach the judge as that might work better for you.  Sometimes it is the court clerk who bogs the process down and makes the decision whether to have the judge spend his afternoon signing permits and amendments or doing other stuff.

Also, please remember that judges, however powerful, are not above the law.  If he is denying you your access to your constitutional rights he has to answer for it, whether it is just to sign off on your amendment and 'dismiss' you in that regard or to face charges.  We had one of those in our county years ago and after trying to deal with him for a number of years we finally got a lawyer involved - we were told it would cost us $5K to either get him off the bench or to 'encourage' him to act more rapidly when the citizenry demanded he perform his job right.  So, we took up contributions from the membership until we got the $ - only took us 3 months, actually but we got it and got the lawyer and all the sum-bitch judge did was tell his clerk to make certain he had the necessary paperwork to sign every Friday afternoon before he left work - that's it.  The next guy who came along was more on top of things and nobody waited any longer than 3 weeks.  Currently it is about a 1-2 week process here.  HTH.  Mikey.

Offline shooter

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2007, 05:01:53 PM »
Mikey ,
       I'm friendly with the clerk.She will even call me if she see's it come back from the Judge to her.Currently the county is wasting all kinds of money mailing these coupons back to us,well they would be if any were getting signed.The clerk tells me its the judge who's to blame.The previous judge gave the clerk permission the rubber stamp ammendments in the past and we could walk in and out with an update (coupon) within 15 minutes.We have a computerized system which gets updated while you wait (we did have) and then the system would print out a new card.We have something that resembles a plastic credit card.One card has you picture ,print and residence data and the other card has your different handguns ,make/models.Whenever you update ,you just throw away the old card and the make you a new one that includes your ammendment.If you have alot of pistols ,you get multiple cards ,as many as it takes to fit all your data.We no longer have the old paper permit with a picture stapeled to it that gets destroyed in the washer.
Shooter
Shooter

Offline Mikey

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2007, 12:46:31 PM »
Hmmmm:  Ya'll oughta find out how many of you are waiting for your amendments and then all of you line up outside his door some fine early morning and the whole dang bunch of ya ought to demand he sign those forms and move the process along - loudly.  Have the clerk act nervous, too.  And just to be on the safe side, one of you should have your lawyer there to speak 'legalese' to him just so he can understand. 

And, if he makes the mistake of saying he doesn't ahve time for you then demand he turn it back to the clerk OR, pin him down to when he is going to sign. 

Actually, I would be there before he steps out the door for lunch and don't let him out until he signs the forms - no forms, no lunch.  But, that's just me............... Mikey.

Offline shooter

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2007, 06:47:14 PM »
Mikey ,
      I got a letter from the Judge's office saying i could contact the pistol permit bureau -my update was ready.Well ,i tried calling the clerk-they never answer the phone.Drove halfway there ( 4 miles ) and managed to get the clerk on the phone.She told me my coupon still wasnt there , the note i got was regarding and ammendment Delete that i did at the same time that i added a revolver.So, i turned around and went home.Good news is ,the Add Admmendment should be there early this week-yeah right.That will make it 11 weeks !
Shooter >:(
Shooter

Offline shooter

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2007, 06:37:36 PM »
12 weeks to the day ! thats how long i ended up waiting for my coupon.I got the call today from the clerk ,picked up the coupon ,drove 50 miles and picked up my new revolver (95% condition ,used S&W M29 Mountain Gun-44mag). Cant wait to shoot it this weekend.I'll feel much more comfortable checking my deercam now.I've got a black bear with a 5 inch front pad and a hind foot that measures 11 inches from claw to heel working my area.This is a big bear in anybody's book.
Shooter ;D
Shooter

Offline WNY_Whitetailer

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #8 on: July 12, 2007, 07:57:08 PM »
Wow...I just walk in to a gun store...Show them my coupon...Give them my coupon...Close the sale...Walk out the door.  When we go to the permit office to update the guns on our permits, they give us another coupon to use for the next purchase...That's Niagara County for ya...Too bad it isn't that easy for your guys in Ulster...
Patience comes with age and You can't teach common sense

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2007, 06:19:32 PM »
wny whitetailer ,
           I hear ya.My buddy in Delaware county has the same deal.He has an empty coupon he carries for his future purchase.I discussed this with our county clerk and she says it defeats the whole purpose of the tracking.Who's to say you have to inform the permit people once you have purchased and picked up your pistol ? If you're not honest ,they will never have a record of your owning the gun ,yes ?
When does the permit bureau get to update your actual permit so that it shows all the pistols you own ?
Shooter ;)
Shooter

Offline NYH1

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #10 on: July 14, 2007, 06:42:35 PM »
Wow...I just walk in to a gun store...Show them my coupon...Give them my coupon...Close the sale...Walk out the door.  When we go to the permit office to update the guns on our permits, they give us another coupon to use for the next purchase...That's Niagara County for ya...Too bad it isn't that easy for your guys in Ulster...
WNY_Whitetailer, are you saying that you can leave the store or place that you bought the pistol from with the pistol  before you have the make, model, serial number, barrel length and caliber put on your pistol permit?  ???

Here in Onondaga County if we buy a pistol from a store, they give us a receipt. We take the receipt to the County Sheriff's Pistol License Unit. They put the make, model, serial number, barrel length and caliber on our pistol permit and run a background check. Once the background check comes back good they give us the coupon to take back to the store to show proof that the pistol was put on our permit and for the store to keep for their records. I thought this was state law.

If the sale is between private individuals it's kind of the same but we have to get a form from the Sheriff's Pistol License Unit and the sale has to be notarized.
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Offline shooter

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2007, 09:05:46 PM »
New York hunter ,
    I believe thats what he's saying.Like i said , Delaware county does it the same way.I'd consider that the honor system.Ulster county where i live (Kingston area ) does it the same way that your county does.There must be some leeway as far as how counties do this.
Shooter ???
Shooter

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Re: Anyone in Ulster County having pistol permit delays ?
« Reply #12 on: July 16, 2007, 06:59:46 AM »
New York hunter ,
    I believe thats what he's saying.Like i said , Delaware county does it the same way.I'd consider that the honor system.Ulster county where i live (Kingston area ) does it the same way that your county does.There must be some leeway as far as how counties do this.
Shooter ???
It was my understanding that you can't even possess a pistol in NY without it being on your pistol permit. I thought this was state law. Gunsmiths, dealers and police officers have different rules obviously. I'd like to hear more about this.
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