For the sixth straight month since law enforcement agencies “suspended” taking applications for new concealed pistol licenses in Washington State, the number of active CPLs has once again dropped, this time to just over 636,400, according to the state Department of Licensing.
Back on April 1, Washington had 650,403 active CPLs. That number has dwindled almost exactly by 14,000.
During the same period, gun sales in Washington, as with the rest of the country, have been up considerably. Again, it began as a reaction to the COVID-19 crisis, according to some sources, and then became more of a reaction to civil unrest in major cities, including Seattle.
Washington is a “shall issue”, meaning concealed carry licenses must be issued to anyone who qualifies via a background check and no other prohibitions. It is traditionally one of the highest per capita concealed carry states in the country.
The coronavirus pandemic panic changed all of that, at least for the time being. Sheriffs and police departments around the state stopped accepting new CPL applications in mid-March. Where the shutdown was originally only supposed to last a couple of weeks, this one continues, now in its seventh month.
But most law enforcement agencies have resumed accepting original applications, and have been renewing existing CPLs throughout because the renewal process does not require fingerprinting.
For example, the King County Sheriff’s Office serves the most populous county in the state, which includes Seattle. Its website features this notice:
“Please be aware that there is a tremendous number of individuals wanting to get their CPLs. We are limiting how many daily appointments we can schedule at all locations at this time. When we are able to process appointments more quickly, while continuing to maintain COVID safety precautions, we will be making adjustments to the number of appointments we can do per day. NO WALK IN APPOINTMENTS at this time.
“Fingerprinting for CPL application is conducted during the application process – no 3rd party prints accepted,” the notice adds.
