Op-Ed: Waiting for gun permit can be deadly

February 15, 2004
(New Hampshire) Union Leader

By BERNADETTE MALONE

NEVER DID I expect to wind up living alone, in a new area, with a violent acquaintance threatening me because of some perceived offense.

Never did I expect to ever need to carry my handgun to and from work in case that man tracked me down and physically threatened me.

So naturally, I didn’t have the paperwork I needed to defend my own life when I needed it most.

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New Hampshire has a chance to help women who find themselves terrified, in my situation, by passing Senate Bill 454, which will do away with the paperwork now required to carry a concealed weapon. How unfortunate that the NH Women’s Lobby doesn’t see it that way and is opposing the bill, which can help women more than men. Men, after all, sometimes have fighting skills and brute physical strength that can help them defend themselves; women rarely do.

Back when I was in this surreal situation, I called the local police department and reported what was happening. The man who had threatened me had been arrested by them three or four times for violent outbursts over a month-long period.

I already owned a gun legally, had taken instruction in using it, and kept it safely in my apartment. I never intended to carry it outside the house, except when I was taking it to target practice.

But what would happen to me if this guy attacked me as I was walking to my car? Or leaving my office? Or as I was reaching for my apartment building key? I wanted permission to carry that pistol in my purse; I deserved a fighting chance to protect myself.

“You should just call us if anything happens,” the police officer who took my phone call responded; “That’s the safest thing you can do.”

I couldn’t believe it. I should fumble with my cell phone, pray I get a strong enough signal, and report the incident to the police as I was being attacked? Even if the police showed up one minute later, how long does it really take to assault a woman?

The N.H. Police Association is opposing Senate Bill 454. The fewer guns around, the easier it is for them to do their job. But God bless these heroes, they can’t be everywhere at once.

I asked to speak with a higher ranking policeman, and he apologized that the desk officer had offered her personal opinion. Of course I had a legal right to apply for a concealed carry permit, he said. But there was a two-week waiting period. Two weeks — or even two days — is an insane amount of time to wait for a permit when someone wants to harm you.

Do bureaucrats really need that long to run a background check on me? Or were they hoping I’d “cool off” and change my mind about the permit? Or maybe the two-week period was simply designed to encourage me to drop out of the application pool.

Waiting period aside, the concealed carry permit application is, in many localities, very discouraging. Local police departments can ask some pretty intrusive questions when you apply for a concealed carry permit: