Bloggytown

        
Tweet

Email

Print
Share

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Bloggytown

Florida Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried has massively reduced gun permit waits

Posted By NSF on Sat, Jul 20, 2019 at 5:18 PM

click to enlarge

photo via Nikki Fried/Twitter

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried says review times for applications for concealed-weapons licenses have been reduced.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which Fried heads, says review times for people with no prior issues have been reduced from 50 days when Fried took office in January to one day in July.

Meanwhile, people with prior arrests or prosecutions now face an average review period of 25 days, down from 88 days in January.

“We’ve made our concealed weapons license program more efficient — but we’ve also made it more accountable,” Fried tweeted on Friday. “I said on day one: everyone who applies to carry concealed weapons in Florida will get the full background check required by law. And now, they do.”

In another tweet, she credited “major changes of leadership, staffing, & culture to get it right” as the “licensing program we inherited had serious failures of oversight.”

We’ve made our concealed weapons license program more efficient — but we’ve also made it more accountable.

I said on day one: everyone who applies to carry concealed weapons in Florida will get the full background check required by law.

And now, they do. pic.twitter.com/fFz8rdnwJU
— Commissioner Nikki Fried (@NikkiFriedFL) July 19, 2019

Fried announced the statistics during an appearance at the Pasco County Tax Collector’s Office. An auditor general examination of the licensing process under former Commissioner Adam Putnam pointed to a lack of management oversight by the department. Putnam’s administration said the issues were being addressed.

Issues with the background-check process where first highlighted last summer in various media reports. At least 300 concealed-weapons licenses were later revoked. Under Putnam, Florida’s concealed-carry program in 2012 became the first in the nation to surpass the 1 million mark. As of June 30, the state reported more than 2 million concealed-weapons licenses were active.

Stay on top of Orlando news and views. Sign up for our weekly Headlines newsletter.

Tags: florida firearms, gun permits, florida gun laws, Image

We welcome readers to submit letters regarding articles and content in Orlando Weekly. Letters should be a minimum of 150 words, refer to content that has appeared on Orlando Weekly, and must include the writer's full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes. No attachments will be considered. Writers of letters selected for publication will be notified via email. Letters may be edited and shortened for space.

Email us at feedback@orlandoweekly.com.

Orlando Weekly works for you, and your support is essential.

Our small but mighty local team works tirelessly to bring you high-quality, uncensored news and cultural coverage of Central Florida.

Unlike many newspapers, ours is free – and we'd like to keep it that way, because we believe, now more than ever, everyone deserves access to accurate, independent coverage of their community.

Whether it's a one-time acknowledgement of this article or an ongoing pledge, your support helps keep Orlando’s true free press free.