Starting next month, applications for gun permits go online.
Lieutenant Mike Rogers says the new online application will speed the processing of the more than 100,000 applications State Police receive each year.
And he says it‘ll save the state $124,000 dollars a year by eliminating most of the need for costly hearings to resolve discrepancies in criminal history or other elements of the application.
"The cost of everybody's salary; it takes into consideration how much ink costs, how much paper costs, what the salaries of the people are that touch that. We have a hearing officer has an hourly rate and our legal officer has an hourly rate," Rogers says.
The online form will include prompts at each step for applicants to confirm they didn‘t make a mistake. If police find a problem, instead of scheduling a hearing, Rogers says they can simply give applicants a chance to resubmit.
State Police are eliminating not only paper applications but paper permits. They‘ll now issue a laminated plastic card. Rogers says the old cards get damaged or torn too easily.