I easily signed up and took one of the many 8 hour pistol permit classes offered throughout the state on Saturday, February 22 as required by CT law. I added MA and AZ certifications as well for a total course cost of 240 dollars. I then filled out the Enfield pistol permit application online on Saturday, March 7 and took all the paperwork to the local police department on Monday, March 9. I was told that the fingerprinting I needed to complete my application was on a first come, first serve basis on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. So Wednesday evening, March 11, I went back to the police department and did not have a good experience getting my fingerprints taken; but it got done.
Thursday, March 12, I returned to the Enfield police department for a third time to turn in my application and fingerprints. I mentioned to the secretary that the office hadn't signed the fingerprint cards. Apparently, he hadn't signed a bunch of people's card. The secretary said to leave everything with her, and she would get him to sign the cards. The cost for the pistol permit application was 70 dollars. The the state of CT charged 40 dollars and the FBI charged 14 dollars to research my fingerprints. The actual fingerprinting process was free.
The state of CT allows towns up to eight weeks to process pistol permit applications. I received a call from an Enfield police detective on May 1 conducting a background check asking me the same questions that were on the application. Tammy had to answer a question as well. The detective let me know that she still needed to contact a random person in my neighborhood for questioning and my supervisor at work. If all went well, as the detective believed it would, I would not hear from the police department again as all would be passed on to the state.
I contacted the detective by email on Tuesday, May 19 to ask how I would be receiving my temporary pistol permit that I needed to take to the Department of Public Safety to get my permanent pistol permit (at a cost of 70 dollars). On Friday, May 22, I received a phone message from the police records office that I would need to retake my fingerprints because they were of poor quality. I was disheartened to say the least. I did not want to go through that experience again. I did some research and found a place in Haddam (at a cost of 50 dollars though) that does fingerprinting with a guarantee. I made an appointment for Wednesday, May 27.
On Wednesday, May 27, I had my fingerprints done electronically. What a breeze. The next day I was going to call the police records office, but before I could, they called me to check if I had gotten their earlier message about the fingerprints. I said I had. The secretary then stated that they were going to begin fingerprinting again on Saturday as they had not been doing them for several months because of the covid pandemic. I told her I had just gotten mine done yesterday and asked when could I bring them in. She said any day - so I took them in that afternoon, May 28.
On Wednesday, June 17, I received a voicemail that my temporary pistol permit was ready to be picked up at the Enfield police records office. I stopped by after work that day to get it. On Friday, June 19, I went to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Safety website to make an appointment to get my state pistol permit. The earliest appointment date that could be had was Monday, July 27. The earliest date that I fit my schedule was Tuesday, August 4.
On Tuesday, August 4th after work, I headed to the State Department of Public Safety in Middletown for the final step in getting my pistol permit. I was concerned the appointment might be cancelled because Tropical Storm Isaias was forecasted to impact CT that day. Luckily, the storm held off until after my appointment. I had my temperature taken before entering the building (Covid precaution), got in a line with two people in front of me, then presented my paperwork and check for 70 dollars, and walked out of the building with my permit into a tropical downpour.
I have my pistol permit finally, and now to get a gun.
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