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Foster Permit received - 267 days
- Thread starter avsterbone
- Start date
GL2020
NES Member
Foster has one police officer doing it. Nice guy
In a 4 hour block on a Sunday he says he does a dozen. It's all OT
Then I started to thing about it. At $40 the first 5-6 apps cover his time, the rest is profit for the town/PD (not sure who get the $$ or if they split in some way)
In casual conversation he says they're doing 5-600 a month and they seem to be the referral of choice lately. The wait was the only bad part. The app, and process of getting the license was a breeze.
Screw Cumberland with their blood sample and prostate exam. Hoping they get smacked along with the other towns that makes applicants jump through hoops "just because"
11-47-12
A fee of forty dollars ($40.00) shall be charged and shall be paid for each license or permit to the licensing authority issuing it. Every license or permit shall be valid for four (4) years from the date when issued unless sooner revoked. The fee charged for issuing of the license or permit shall be applied for the use and benefit of the city, town, or state of Rhode Island.
They are keeping less than $40 because even Foster is doing way too much.
They don’t have to run fingerprints yet an electronic submission to the FBI is currently $13.75.
GL2020
NES Member
They could have just asked the Chinese government for them. My fingerprints were stolen in the massive OPM leak about 10 years ago. Everyone should have them by now. I know DoD, US customs, and FBI have them. Probably state of MA at some point. A couple private data centers in VA and IL.
Hard to think of a place that CAN’T get my fingerprints lol
But I get your point.
It’s a screwed up process all around and it doesn’t have to be that way.
The point is that fingerprints aren’t required by statute so why are 39 city/town licensing authorities even bothering with them?
NH, ME, PA, IL, VA, AL, IA, SD, MN, and WI don‘t require prints.
Most of what they ask isn’t relevant. all what’s needed is name, date of birth, and place of birth as well as affirming that you are not prohibited by state law from possessing a firearm.
A 1 page application is all that’s needed with a quick name search through NCIC and III.
Hell, they could even issue in 2 minutes if the person has an out of state permit from a place like Utah where they have automated background checks daily, they can use NLETS to see if the permit is valid and issue right there.
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As with most rights in RI, you have to be put thru the ringer like you're a criminal until you're proven not to be one. It's all about CYA. Same reason why you have to go thru $200k worth of medical testing before you can be diagnosed with something that is clear if it was a simple blood test.
RI, as usual, has to be dragged kicking and screaming into the future because it can't let go of its shitty, rotten past.
Picked mine up today in Foster. 198 days from application receipt at Foster PD. Pickup was painless. Took about 10 minutes for photo, prints and explanations on how to upgrade caliber, report loss, and report change of address.
My take on the subject is pretty simple. It's just like New York. They don't want to issue the licenses because they believe in "gun safety" and think the more people who have guns the more death and destruction there will be. The AG letter issued after Bruen made it clear that all they were looking for were reasons to claim Bruen allows subjective determination of suitability and moral character!!!!. The state could care less if you sue them as they spend your money defending themselves. All of the hoops they make you jump through works just like an automated call center. They figure over 50% of the people will not bother with all the hassle and if you do they will just delay it.
If you really think about it the fact that RI has no renewal process and requires that you re-apply for your license after 4 years and go thrugh the entire process again with references and qualifications etc. is proof that they do not want you to have a license.
The Usual Suspect
NES Member
I've only waited for mine for 5-6 months now, only another 5-6 years to go!
BroncoAZ
NES Member
I would like to start the process of getting the RI non resident permit. Cape Gun Works apparently offers a FL/CT non resident class once a month. I had a FL permit years back when I lived in AZ, but after getting UT permit I let FL lapse. Now that I live in MA and have permits for MA, AZ, and UT I would like to be covered for trips to see family in CT or friends in RI.
GL2020
NES Member
Signup somewhere to take the qualification live fire test and apply once you pass. No classes needed for RI.
I've seen classes for CT several places just haven't felt the need myself
GL2020
NES Member
Good luck holding anyone to that. Mine took just under 200 days (197 I believe)...well over 6 months from application in the mail.
To be fair at about 110-120 days someone called me to make an appointment to come in for prints and pic. At that time I was told it was approved, so it was just a waiting game.
When I went they were only doing them on Sunday afternoons and one officer was handling things (good dude BTW).
I figure one year from expiration I'll do my re-qualify ASAP and submit 6-9 months before it expires
Not sure if I have to go in an take another picture or not...hope not, but whatever
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I also called Exeter RI. Town clerk Patricia Whitfield told me they do not issue out of state permits.
GL2020
NES Member
Some do, some don't
RI is a mish-mash of every town doing their own thing. Some don't do non-resident permits, some do. Some towns have a very straightforward app (like Foster), and some want medical releases, a stool sample, and prostate exam.
I'm not entirely sure how it got this way, but as best I can tell most/all town would historically just refer people to the AG's office. The AG's issue was "shall issue" and had a pretty high denial rate from what I've heard (still does by some accounts). Then someone forced the issue in court (think the case was Smithfield) and a court said that towns "shall issue" under the law. It wasn't specific who/what in town was to do the issuing. Most towns kicked it to their local PD to handle the application, but some use a town clerk. And just by virtue of telling everyone to do something and letting them create their own process, here we are.
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Is that a resident or non-resident permit?
It got this way because chiefs stopped issuing for the most part in the 1970’s because the AG almost always issued. Arlene Violett was practically shall-issue.
When Sheldon was AG he practiced may-issue HARD and told chiefs that if they issued that he would see to it that their prosecutions would suffer.
My friend Jim Archer sued Smithfield’s chief back in 2002 for an application only. He won and the chief made an application and then sat on it for a few months. Jim threatened to sue him again and he issued.
The Usual Suspect
NES Member
Still waiting for Foster. Is it worth it to call and ask or do they just waive you off?
Rockrivr1
NES Member
I'm going to say no to that. I'm coming up on 6 months and I'd rather not piss them off with them reviewing my application. I can wait as I pretty confident I'm in the pipeline. Otherwise they wouldn't have reached out stating I needed to change to the new document when I first applied.
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Gadomski vs stated that 90 days is ample time to issue. If we continue to let them lead the sheep and follow it will just get worse. I’ve sent several emails to the new officer Dennis Smith who is doing the processing and have had no responses to calls or emails.
GL2020
NES Member
Good luck with that. It’s a tiny police force and I think they only do out of state permits as a revenue source.
If you’ve never seen it I think they could run the entire PD from a 3BR house. Biggest part is the parking lot.
They are not obligated to issue them to anyone other than residents of Foster (or RI residents with other permits) afaik so you could make matters worse by trying to force the issue.
GL2020
NES Member
I’d also say no.
Word on the street is they’re backlogged 7 months at least.
If you call it’s not like they’re going to be able to say “you’ll get it on xx/xx/xx”. I do think if you were being denied you’d know. You know they day of the appointment you walk out with it.
It’s a one man operation last I knew
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Tiny? We have no police department where I live. And Foster has 8-10 officers for the little town that it is. My wife did her class a couple weeks ago in Connecticut and had her permit in less than 10 days and Ct is much larger than RI.
GL2020
NES Member
All I putting out there is they are not obligated to even issue out of state permits as far as I know.Tiny? We have no police department where I live. And Foster has 8-10 officers for the little town that it is. My wife did her class a couple weeks ago in Connecticut and had her permit in less than 10 days and Ct is much larger than RI.
Trying to hold them to some standard of 90 days for something that only applies to people with an 02825 zipcode will likely end with "If you don't like it go to another town or the AG"
I live in RI and it took almost 200 days and I got mine over a year ago. Good bet things are worse now
And for the record, getting my MA non resident was only slightly less painful. The difference was they called me in about 90 days and scheduled the appointment for 3 months later....then waited 6 weeks for it in the mail. Just as bad, but I wasn't in the dark so long.
Don't think CT is a fair comparison cause I think the state PD does theirs?
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Ok thanks. Yes. You are correct. First you get the town temporary permit and a few days later the state police call you to come pick up the license.
In RI i believe that my qualification is only good for 1 year.
I was told about the 90 day issue by a RI gun shop. Said they are supposed to issue within 90 days. If they are too busy I would have gladly gone to another town. If anyone knows of a not so busy town that issues permits I’d like to know.
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I called and asked to speak with the officer in charge of the permit processing or the chief. Was told by the rude dispatcher that neither of them have voicemail and abruptly said good bye.
allen-1
NES Member
Neither serve nor protect - state employees at their best.
