Orleans has big backlog of pistol permit applications

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 26 August 2020 at 10:00 am

Orleans County has a backlog of pistol permit applications that will likely take months to get caught up on.

There are currently 218 applications that need to be processed. Sheriff Chris Bourke said the county has been receiving about two or three a day.

There used to be a monthly pistol permit class at Hoag Library in Albion. But the library has closed its meeting rooms to the public since mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Orleans County Sheriff’s Office last month was able to offer the 4-hour pistol permit class for the first time during the pandemic. The Clarendon Rec Hall on Route 31A is being used for the classes, which are being offered twice a month with the maximum capacity of each class at 25 people.

That would allow the Sheriff’s Office to accommodate 50 people a month for the pistol permit applications. With 218 applications – and more expected – it will take several months to get caught up, said Mike Mele, the undersheriff.

The Sheriff’s Office has already received 58 pistol permit applications since Aug. 1, Bourke said.

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