 CWL Finally Received!
Background… Air Force member and had previously been issued a resident Oklahoma CWP. I moved from Oklahoma to Florida in the summer of 2008. Normally, I wouldn’t have applied for the Florida permit, but I changed my residency to Florida from Oklahoma for tax purposes. As Oklahoma does not issue non-resident permits, and I now hold a FL driver’s license I thought it would be best to apply for the FL permit. Also, I wasn’t sure if Florida would honor my Oklahoma permit since I am a FL resident and did not want to put myself into a situation where I could possibly be arrested and lose my rights. Admittedly, I also wanted to see what the FL CWL process would be like. Here are some of the details of my adventure.
Used the electronic fingerprint option. My prints were taken on 8 January by Tampa Police Department. I arrived at the downtown TPD headquarters at approximately 1:00 p.m. and was done by 3:30 p.m. There were approximately 4 people waiting for prints when I arrived. I waited approximately 2 hours for the people in front of me to be processed. There was only one police officer who was performing the electronic service and I think he was at lunch when I first arrived. This seems to explain why the four people who were in line before me waited for approximately 45 minutes before the line started moving. When I was eventually called for my prints to be taken, the process took approximately 20 minutes. The police officer, to his credit, was extremely friendly and talkative. He described his fingerprinting job as an additional duty and said that he had been very busy for the past 4 months. On a side note, most everyone who was in front of me and those who arrived after me were carrying the brown manila envelope that the Florida Department of Agriculture sends for CWP licenses. There could be other packages that look like the CWP, but they all looked identical.
Used the DD214 option. As previously mentioned above, I held an Oklahoma CWP permit. I was not required to attend any formal training as my Oklahoma training along with my DD214 would suffice. If anyone is confused at my reference to the DD214, it’s a form issued to military personnel listing their service dates and other military related information. It’s used to verify military membership.
Package mailed 9 January 2009 from the Tampa/St. Petersburg metro area. Do not know the date it was received, should have sent via registered mail. I would suggest everyone send theirs registered for no other reason than to avoid the daily “mail box pilgrimage”. I wouldn’t let anyone check the mail before I did, and now my wife and her daughters have concrete evidence that I can be just as obsessive as them.
Check cashed 18 February 2009. I’m assuming my package was received by the Florida Department of Agriculture at least 3 weeks before the check was cashed but again I have no proof.
My Florida CWL was mailed by the Florida Department of Agriculture on 16 April, and was deposited in my mailbox on 22 April 2009. From the date my check was cashed to the date my CWL was mailed added up to 58 days. Technically speaking I guess that’s how long it took the state of Florida to issue my permit. If you include the time my permit was in the mail (to and from) and sitting on someone’s desk the total time was 104 days. My opinion, too long but I’m glad I have my new permit. Thank God for the 2nd Amendment!  | 
04-25-2009, 10:31 PM
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