Editorial: Nassau should cut lag on gun permits
The Nassau County gun license form. Credit: Nassau County Police Department
New York State law and common sense agree: It shouldn't take 12 to 18 months to get a pistol license in Nassau County.
A recent lawsuit alleges the process does take that long, and Nassau County police don't deny it. State law says the licenses must be issued or denied within six months of application.
Nassau police officials say the pistol unit is stressed because its staff has been pared down from 27 in 2008 to 12, including some sworn officers and some civilians. This is a legitimate point. But they also claim they aren't violating the law because they don't start counting toward that six-month deadline until after the background checks have been done and fingerprints are sent off to the FBI. That's a flimsy rationalization.
With about 5,500 renewals and 500 new licenses to process each year, the unit has a significant workload. But part of the slowdown stems from the fact that every person renewing a permit (which is required every five years) has to bring in each handgun they own for inspection.
The department is considering streamlining this by doing most renewals by mail, and asking 10 percent of gun owners at random to bring in their weapons for inspection. This is similar to the way New York City and Suffolk County operate, and gun enthusiasts say both places do a better job (though not perfect) than Nassau of issuing licenses in a timely manner. Some gun owners around the state complain the six-month rule is not always followed perfectly, but Nassau's 12 to 18 months is said to be an exceptional lag.
This is also one of the many examples of the department doing things in an old-fashioned, in-person way when computers would reduce slow and costly interpersonal interactions. Department officials agree, but say the money for the technology isn't there.
The irony is that gun owners who go to the trouble to get permits are law abiding. Applying for and renewing licenses shouldn't be arduous.
Nassau needs to move forward in making improvements to comply with the state's law, which was passed to guarantee that New Yorkers can exercise their right to legally own a gun.
For handgun owners willing to follow the law, doing so shouldn't be pointlessly difficult.
