Why Do Guns Get All the Attention?

I wonder if Steve Harvey has ever asked contestants on “Family Feud” to list the top five answers to “Name a place where you always have to wait in a long line.”

Some good answers would be: the post office, the DMV, to get a COVID vaccine, the grocery store checkout right before a snow storm, the liquor store on New Year’s Eve, H&R Block on April 14, or the unemployment line during a pandemic. I’m sure you have your favorites to add to the list.

If Suzy from the Dombrowski family shouted out “The license-to-carry-a-firearm permit line!” Steve Harvey would probably give her that silent stare, roll his eyes, say something funny, and prepare us for the big red X to pop up on the screen.

In Chester County, the demand for permits to carry concealed firearms skyrocketed in the third and fourth quarters of 2020, according to the website MyChesCo.com. In response, says County Sheriff Fredda Maddox, “The increase in license-to-carry permits has escalated to the point where we cannot meet demand with one office.”

Under normal circumstances, that would just mean that people waiting for permission to carry a gun around would have to wait a tad longer for their paperwork to get processed. But not in Chester County, Pennsylvania. 

Instead, the Chester County Sheriff’s Office has taken steps to double the number of applications processed.

Here are some of the changes they’ve made to accommodate the bullet heads:

• Added weekend hours.

• Added a second satellite location.

• Added an electronic payment method.

• Purchased additional cameras and computer equipment.

• Trained additional staff.

• Implemented an online appointment-scheduling system that:

  • allows applicants to schedule appointments 24/7;

  • avoids the expected problems, and likely security issues, that an in-person, first-come first-served system would bring, especially with the huge increase in demand for carry permits;

  • allows the sheriff’s office to comply with COVID protocols and avoids having large numbers of people congregating in the lobby of the Justice Center;

  • frees up staff to focus on processing applications rather than answering telephone calls to schedule application appointments.

The sheriff’s office is looking into more methods for speeding up the processing of license-to-carry applications, including the use of private vendors who offer online, cloud-based solutions to assist sheriff’s offices.

I am so impressed how the Chester County Sheriff – with a little creative thinking and a lot of action – has found a way to solve a problem in county government and make the lives of bullet heads a little easier. Let’s not forget, this is the same sheriff folks complained couldn’t handle two jobs at the same time a couple months ago (Chester Matters blog, January 14).

I hope folks at the post office, DMV, Department of Health, grocery store, liquor store, tax preparer, and unemployment office seek her out as a consultant to help them solve their customer service problems. Sheriff Maddox obviously knows how to get things done.

Stefan Roots blogs at Chester Matters.