For anyone interested I wanted to share the process I went through to get my Arizona CCW permit (permit to carry a concealed weapon). Just for clarification for those unfortunate enough to live in states that issue permits specific to a specific list of gun calibers, Arizona is much better in that my permit allows me to carry any concealed legal weapon whether it be a gun or a sword, although hiding a sword could be a bit difficult in practice. On a side note, I personally don't feel I should need permission from the government in the form of a permit to allow me to exercise my right to "bear arms" as protected by the 2nd Amendment, but until we can get the current law improved here, obtaining a CCW permit is the only way I can carry concealed without risking dire consequences. Hopefully someday we can get a CCW law here like Alaska has - you can carry concealed there without a permit exactly the way it ought to be US wide. Open carry is legal in Arizona, but some sheeple get scared when they see a civilian carrying a gun exposed in a holster, so they prefer not to know about my hidden weapon in a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of manner. A funny side note about such sheeple is that criminals normally don't open carry in a holster - they normally own a gun illegally since felons can't even touch a gun, so they are forced to carry it either concealed or in their hand ready for action. As a result there is no logical reason to fear the average civilian open carrying a gun in a holster. Additionally the 2nd amendment states that I have the right to "bear" arms, so all other laws on the books that say I need a permit to do so are unconstitutional.
Back to the original topic. All I had to do to get my Arizona CCW was to fit within the Arizona legal requirements (such as being 21 or older & not being a felon or mentally ill by passing their background check) & take a required 8 hour training course which actually was very good. I initially thought I would be bored to tears in a government mandated training class but was pleasantly surprised in that I enjoyed it very much. I would recommend the course to anyone who wants to learn more about the use of a gun in self defense even if you don't want to carry it concealed. I had already read many books on the subject but found myself learning new things regardless. The class I took was taught by two instructors, one was a lawyer who specializes in self defense cases who also serves part time as a judge, and the other was an x-police officer so we got to hear the perspective on the the laws from the viewpoint of the Police, Judges, & Lawyers all in one class.
There is a long list of Arizona Approved instructors - the class I took cost me $79. I took the class on a Saturday. After I passed the range qualification & written tests I was given proof of passing & was finger printed. I sent the proof of passing & my fingerprint card into Arizona DPS along with a cashiers check for the $65 application fee the following Monday afternoon. The very next Saturday (6 days later) I received my CCW permit in the mail. I was very impressed with how speedy the entire process was - as far as I can tell the majority of the 6 days was just waiting for the US Postal Service to deliver my packet to Arizona DPS & to then deliver the issued CCW to me.
Arizona CCW permits are valid for 5 years, and lucky for me a new law was passed (Arizona SB1250) this past summer that no longer requires finger printing on CCW renewals that take place after Dec 30th 2007. So all I'll need to do when my renewal date comes up is to mail in my $65 renewal fee along with my renewal form.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Arizona CCW permit process
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16 comments:
Wow! That is awesome. I only WISH I could carry a concealed handgun in Washington DC, but they are currently banned from anyone other than cops & criminals. My only hope is for the Supreme court to uphold the current pending case that found the gun ban to be unconstitutional.
While I agree the CCW is better than nothing, it galls me to no end that it cost you $144.00 and a day of your time to exercise a God given right guaranteed by the Constitution.
Very true Bill - it should not cost us a single cent to be "allowed" to bear arms since it says nothing about fees in the 2nd Amendment. Even worse - Arizona is one of the inexpensive states - I've heard of some that the total ends up in the hundreds of dollars & requires lots of hoops such as getting letters of recommendation from other residents that you should be "allowed" to carry a gun!
It's scary the type of people that are allowed to carry weapons in our society. First off, to Bill, you mention it is "a God given right guaranteed by the Constitution." I only have to ask - who wrote the Constitution? Because I'm puretty sure it was Man, not God. You may be confusing the Constitution with the Bible, but last I checked those tablets Moses carried down from the mountain didn't say anything about handguns.
Secondly, everyone here is quibling about the right to bear arms being guaranteed in the 2nd ammendment. You are claiming that the being unable to carry them concealed without a permit is unconstitutional. Meanwhile, you openly state in the original post that you are able to carry a weapon with no permit so long as it is visible. Last I checked, this constitutes bearing arms.
Hi James, thanks for visiting & posting a comment. Many who believe in a divine Creator believe that the men that wrote the constitution were inspired by God, and also that as stated in the declaration of Independence the rights protected by the Bill of Rights were written down there, but not created at that time - that they existed since the time of creation if not before: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" - it is the belief that our rights existed even before the Bill of Rights were written down that people allude to when they say "God Given Right" - for those who believe in a divine Creator. Even for those who don't, many of them would still contend that we humans are born with certain unalienable rights - such as the freedom to be prepared to defend oneself from attack if one so chooses, etc.
Yes it is true that in Arizona open carry is permitted, although there are a couple of issues:
1) The current definition of open carry is such that it allows an Officer to arrest an open carry person for "concealed carry" even if carrying openly, simply by approaching from the opposite side so that they could not see it. A new law was passed by the legislature last year to clarify that issue that has caused trouble for Arizona residents in the past, but our good Governor gave it the VETO & stated "If you want to carry, get a permit."
The 2nd issue is that open carry does make some people who are scared of guns uncomfortable. It is to avoid making those folks uncomfortable & to avoid being arrested for concealed carry while open carrying due to current wording of the law that some choose to go through the trouble to get a CCW permit & carry concealed.
It is also worth noting that the 2nd Amendment does NOT specify "The right of the people to keep & bear arms in the OPEN shall not be infringed" - our founders knew that concealed carry was common & did not see fit to specify concealed carry was not included in the open ended 2nd Amendment.
James: - I almost forgot to mention what many people list as the single most important reason for having a CCW permit to conceal carry, which is for strategy. You see, when a criminal attacks one or more people, the criminal will have what is called the "upper hand" or element of surprise - some say "the criminal got the drop on you" - simply put, it is difficult to win a gun fight when a bad guy is pointing a gun at you before you even draw your weapon, or even worse if the criminal shoots you before you even know they are a there.
A recent example is the shooting of a Mayor & others during a meeting open to the public. The first shots were at the two open carry officers in the room. The intended target was the Mayor, but the criminal knew that he had to remove the biggest threats first - the armed officers. The criminal used the element of surprise against the officers & shot them before they could shoot him.
If there had been an open carry civilian at the meeting they may have been included in the list of the first to go. If there had been a civilian there in concealed carry mode the weapon bearing civilian would have been unknown to the criminal, and therefore could have turned the tables against the criminal by using the element of surprise against him or her as part of the tactics in the response, which would then give the "upper hand" back to the concealed carry civilian.
GREAT POST DUSTIN!
Dustin, I would like to commend you on your site, your posts, your getting a CCW and most of all your ability to articulate a point. Unfortunately, it is not as common nowadays to have someone who is well spoken as you who can debate a point and for lack of a better word, win. Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more from you in the future. You, my friend, are a true patriot and a good American.
Matt
Thanks Matthew :)
"...our founders knew that concealed carry was common & did not see fit to specify concealed carry was not included in the open ended 2nd Amendment."
I'd like to see your evidence for this. I can't imagine concealed carry being common using a flint-lock pistol.
To Anonymous: Have you seen the long overcoats people wore in those days? Try placing your flintlock gun in a side holster, cover it with a long overcoat, and try to explain to a Police officer that you are not carrying in a concealed fashion. They didn't need small little derringers to conceal carry, their common form of dress made concealed carry a common thing. It would have been very funny looking to see someone try to strap a holster around the outside of their overcoat to make sure their gun was not concealed.
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