Sheriff's Department Struggles With Gun Permits - WICU12/WSEE Erie, PA News, Sports, Weather and Events

Concern about possible gun restrictions has led to a large increase in gun permit applications around the state, and here in Erie.

 The Erie County Sheriff's Department is getting swamped, with 732 applications in the first 25 days of this month. The processing time for permits has gone from 4-5 days, to 4-5 weeks.

Sheriff Bob Merski said, "People are just concerned that they won't  have an opportunity to get it. If they get it now, they'll have it."

 And with the sale of firearms at gun shows and stores continuing to increase, the department keeps trying to play catch up. And workers are having a hard time accessing the Pennsylvania State Police system used for background checks.

 Merski said, "There are certain times of the day, after 9:00am, 9:30am, that we could be on the phone anywhere from 10-30 minutes waiting for one approval because they are all backed up and I believe the system is backed up."

 Sheriff's employees have worked twice on Saturdays this month to try to catch up with the backlog.