It’s a sinking feeling. You spend a day in class learning about the law. You pass the shooting test with flying colors. You roll your fingerprints without hesitation knowing that you’re a “good guy” and send your CWP application off to SLED with your hard earned money. You wait. It’s hard, but everyone tells you to expect 90 days. As the three months come to a close a letter arrives from SC SLED!
Concealed Weapons Permit Denial Notice
“This will acknowledge receipt of your Concealed Weapons Permit (CWP) application and to notify you of the denial of your application.” To say this is a let down is an understatement. Understandably you are left feeling confused and frustrated.
You of course jump to the personalized box of the form letter hoping to learn why you were denied. SC SLED provides: “More Specifically, your application was denied for the following reason(s):” and then states exactly why SLED did not see fit to issue you a permit.
What next?
Now is not the time for despair. Fortunately, there are actions that can be taken to overcome the rejection.
First, you need to understand why you were rejected. Many times this relates to some event in your past, but sometimes SLED makes a mistake. If an event in your past, you must collect all the information you can on that event.
Second, you should determine if this event possibly denies you the right to own a firearm. If so, then you have more serious problems and need to address a restoration of your firearm rights first. (provide appropriate link.)
Third, consider your options to either overcome the objection by SLED or to remove / mitigate the event from your record.
If the denial does not relate to an event in your past, but rather is a SLED (or another agency) mistake, then we consider how to correct the misidentification or other mistake. This still requires investigation and updating the appropriate agency.
How can I help you?
A good attorney can help you address these three stages. I can examine what happened in your past, research the effects on your gun rights, and tell you how to redress that damage. Sometimes it is as simple as providing additional information to SLED and explaining the history of the event. Other times we will have to restore firearm rights before reapplying to SLED. Either way, I can help you determine what steps are necessary and help you achieve those steps.
So if you have received your CWP Denial Notice, do not hesitate to reach out for assistance. And if you know someone who is suffering from a denial, please point them my way. The right to self defense is too important and fundamental to ignore.