John Davis, Creek County Sheriff in Oklahoma, is doing what he can to encourage armed citizens. He recently lowered the fee for fingerprints from $25 to $10. He says he is not allowed to reduce it to zero. From tulsaworld.com:
In a letter from Sheriff John Davis posted on the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, he wrote “As a result of the ever-increasing violence being committed upon the American citizen and the current state of our country, I encourage each citizen of Creek County who is legally able to fully utilize their Second Amendment right ‘to keep and bear arms,’ as legally prescribed by the Self-Defense Act.”While not the most expensive in the Country, the Oklahoma state fees for the carry license, at $100 for five years ($200 for ten years) is not the least expensive either. A class certified by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) is required. Renewal fees are $85 for an additional five years, or $170 for ten years.
Davis wrote that while he didn’t have the authority to waive the entire fingerprinting fee associated with concealed carry handgun licensing, he could reduce it.
I found a class available in Tulsa for $50, offered in one day by the Tulsa Red Castle Gun Club.
Minimum fees are thus $100 for the permit, $50 for the class, and $10 for the fingerprinting. Two passport type photos are also required.
It is helpful of Sheriff Davis to reduce his finger print fees and to open the office on Saturdays so that people will not have to take off from work to get their fingerprints done. From the Sheriff's Office:
Beginning January 2016 the Creek County Sheriff's Office Administration building will be open from 09:00am to 1:00pm for fingerprinting on the Following Saturdays.The easier it is for people to get permits or to carry, the more people will carry, and the more crime will be reduced.
John Lott has found that each $10 increase in fees reduces the number (pdf) of permits by half a percent of the population. Sheriff Davis' $15 reduction may be measurable in Creek County. John Lott has not studied how much a chief law enforcement officer's encouragement influences carry rates. I suspect that it has a significant effect, likely more than the fee reduction.
With more Chief law enforcement officers actively supporting armed citizens, the cultural shift away from the discredited "more guns equal more crime" theme will continue to accelerate.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Link to Gun Watch
There is nothing in the constitution that requires any individual to have government permission to keep and bear arms. We had the authority to keep and bear arms before the constitution ever existed and you could own the best weapon you could afford, or make. If you are able to go out in public or maybe your health requires you to stay in you have the right to defend your self. All you have to do is be breathing to qualify to keep and bear arms.
ReplyDeleteOklahoma is maximum in the middel if it comes to shall issue only carry and pracic the most form outsite taxing an right to discriminated the poors they banned public transportations carry and start draconical white an felony there ......
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