Sheriff issues first permits for conceal-carry

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones was the first person in the county to apply for a permit to carry a concealed weapon under the county's newly approved conceal-carry law. Jones was one of four who went through the process Wednesday.

For the first couple of weeks, Sheriff John Jordan said, his office will process applications at a rate of one an hour and by appointment. Between Wednesday and next Tuesday, Jordan has scheduled 34 applications for the permit. A few of those appointments are for married couples.

Only four applications were processed Wednesday afternoon, but beginning at 9 a.m. today applicants will come in on the hour until 4 p.m.

Thirty-four applications in a week is by no means a rush on the sheriff's office for gun permits, Jordan said. The national average among states that have a conceal-carry law is that 1 percent of the population has a permit.

"Cape Girardeau County has 68,000 population," Jordan said. "Over the next few years we may see 680 permits issued."

Jordan expects that most of the applications will come within the first few days. That's the reason he is asking applicants to call for an appointment. Eventually, the sheriff's office will accept applicants on a walk-in basis.

30 minutes

Jones went through the application process in about 30 minutes. The process included being fingerprinted twice after the first set was determined to be too fuzzy.

Jones said he doesn't plan to carry his .357-caliber Magnum handgun ordinarily.

"I wanted to have the permit whenever I go hunting," he said. "I like to carry a pistol when I go hunting, and I'd like it to be legal when I do so. Sometimes that's not legal.

"Also when I travel I like to carry a pistol," he said. "This would make it legal to do so."

Gary Lively of Cape Girardeau, the second applicant, said he doesn't plan to carry his Beretta 9 mm handgun but is taking the initiative to get a permit to take a stand for the law.

"Someone has to step forward," Lively said. "This is for my neighbors, friends and people who later on will carry."

Lively, a retired over-the-road truck driver, said a concealed weapon is only part of the equation for self-protection.

"A gun is not the main answer," he said. "It's thinking first. If it doesn't look right, you don't get into it. A person has to think: Is it the ultimate, is it the last resort?"

Cape Girardeau County is one of four Missouri counties the state Supreme Court on Feb. 26 exempted from issuing permits because they would incur costs not covered by the state.

Cape, Green and Camden counties voluntarily decided to issue permits because residents wanted them. Jackson County has not decided yet, according to a sheriff's department spokesman, because it does not have the funds to issue the permits.

Cape Girardeau County passed its resolution to issue permits on Monday. Jordan said the costs charged for processing conceal-carry are exactly the amount it costs his office to do the paperwork. Expenses incurred over that will be paid through the Crime Reduction Fund, fees from prisoners' long-distance telephone calls and fees paid by defendants as part of their probation.

A conceal-carry applicant in Cape Girardeau County must bring photo identification and a copy of a training certificate signed by a certified instructor. The county has 12 approved instructors.

An applicant also should have a $38 money order made payable to the Missouri State Highway Patrol to cover the costs of the background check and a check or money order for $45 made out to the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department to cover the county's costs.

Completing the process does not allow the applicant to carry a concealed weapon.

"They will take nothing back with them other than a receipt," Jordan said.

Once the background check is approved, the sheriff's department will notify the applicant to come to the office and pick up the permit. At that time, the applicant is approved to carry a concealed weapon.

In July, the sheriff's department will notify the Department of Revenue of the permits that have been issued. Once that department has entered the information in its computer, the holder of a permit can take it to the license bureau and get a new driver's license stating that he or she is certified to carry a concealed weapon.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 160