Cossack,
Was your current permit issued by Woonsocket? The reason I’m asking is that due to my own experience with WPD last December, my perception is that Chief Carey (now retired) was discouraging applications.
Last December, I stopped by WPD and inquired about obtaining a permit and the officer I spoke with politely explained to me that they were not accepting applications because Chief Carey was about to retire and they wanted to pend applications until a new chief was named. It was also suggested that if I didn’t want to wait, I could apply via the Attorney General office.
At the time, that excuse seemed reasonable to me and it was only later on, as I learned more about the process, that I realized that they were using a partial truth (the chief was retiring) to avoid their obligation to provide and process a permit application.
Ultimately, I did end up acquiring a permit from the AG, but during the process I heard of another Woonsocket resident who was also dissuaded in a similar fashion by WPD just a couple of years before my experience. According to this other individual, he was told that due to the city’s financial problems (Woonsocket was either in or close to being in receivership at the time – the partial truth) they weren’t accepting applications.
Whether or not this pattern of discouragement was Chief Carey’s idea or the mayor’s (Fontaine or Baldelli-Hunt), I do not know. What I do know is that Woonsocket has a new Chief, Commander Oates, who previously held the position of Deputy Chief for the city of Providence. Under the new chief, I’m curious to know if WPD will continue to obfuscate or perhaps change course and allow the permit process to work as written under 11-47-11.
As to some sort of annual qualification to keep the permit valid/active, that seems unusual. It occurs to me that if your permit expiration date is 2019 and there are no conditions printed on the permit, then you’re good to go until 2019.
Let us know what happens if you inquire with the city or PD.