The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
PERMIT UPGRADES
Handguns: New plastic pistol permits better for gun owners, county record keepers
A simple change from paper to plastic is helping the Madison County Sheriff’s Office tighten its record keeping and offer county residents a more expedient pistol permit certification and update process.
Sheriff Allen Riley says his office is transiting away from the old, green paper pistol permits in favor of plastic, driver’s license styled cards. The new permit includes two separate cards.
The first card is much like the old pistol permit, containing a photo, name, address, occupation, employer, nationality and date of birth for the handgun carrier, replete with a thumbprint on the back. The second card contains the list of each weapon registered to the individual.
Riley said converting the county to a plastic permit was one of his goals upon taking the office, adding that changeover from the paper to plastic permit is free for those residents who already have their permits. So far, the sheriff’s office has updated upwards of 300 permits to plastic. One of the benefits of updating the permit to the newer style is that when handgun owners want to add another weapon to their arsenal, the pistol permit office only needs to update the secondary card containing the list of regis-
tered guns, a faster process than the one formerly implemented when an entire permit needed to be reworked. The cost for an update to the second card containing the list of registered firearms is $5.
“It’s way quicker for a person coming in once they update,” said pistol permit clerk Diane Masker. “Service is much quicker.”
Previously, the sheriff said some pistol permit carriers would simply cross out handguns they no longer owned with a pen instead of contacting the sheriff’s office in order to have the weapon officially removed from the permit, which would in turn contribute to an outof-date gun registry. The intent of the plastic is to make sure registered gun owners are keeping their information current.
“Our records got outdated,” Riley said. “With the SAFE Act being imposed now, it’s very important to have them up to date.”
Another aspect to consider with pistol permits is the death of the permit holder. Pistol permits serve as records of ownership, and plastic cards are a more durable form of record than paper, making it easier to find and update for surviving family. There are times, Riley said, when surviving family members fail to update the permit to reflect the death, thereby creating complications down the road when someone else tries to re-register the deceased’s weapon.
“It created problems within our system tracking guns when someone passes away,” Riley said. When a family member wants to turn over a deceased loved one’s weapon to the sheriff’s office, they should not bring the weapon to the jail. Instead, they need to contact the sheriff’s office as transporting a weapon that is not registered under their name is illegal.
“By rights, you cannot transport, so contact the local police department or sheriffs,” Riley said.
Riley added how there have been occasions where a person seeking to turn in a deceased family mem- ber’s weapon has arrived at the jail with the gun on their person, a potentially alarming situation that the sheriff wants to avoid. Instead, his office stresses that law enforcement will travel to residents to secure any guns that are being turned over. By law, the sheriff’s office can only hold a weapon for up to a year once it is turned over, whether willingly or by court order.
“The judge has the right to revoke or suspend at any time,” Riley said of pistol permits. “[We] have nothing to do with it.”
In 2016, the sheriff’s office issue 146 new permits. Of that number, 29 were first-time permit seekers and 117 were duplicates. One permit was denied, 12 permits were suspended, and eight were revoked.
In total, just more than 8,500 of Madison County’s residents have pistol permits. As of 2015, there were an estimated 71,849 residents in the county.
To be eligible for a pistol permit in Madison County, applicants must be a resident of the county for at least six months or employed by the county, and must be at least 21 years old or honorably discharged from the military. Additionally, applicants must have proof of one of the following: a hunting license, hunter’s safety certificate, pistol safety course, or military identification.
Then, the applicant goes through an interview and fingerprinting process while the sheriff’s office performs a background check. Once the sheriff’s office deems the applicant fit to possess a weapon, the application is sent to a Madison County judge for review. The judge ultimately makes the decision on whether or not to grant the pistol permit before the pistol permit clerk contacts the applicant with the judge’s decision.
The total bill for a pistol permit is $125 for a newcomer.
Once an individual has their pistol permit in Madison County, they will never need to update it again so far as the county is concerned. However, the New York State SAFE ACT requires that hand gun owners renew their pistol permits every 5 years.