WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and SportsDOJ closing gap in delay for concealed carry licenses

DOJ closing gap in delay for concealed carry licenses

Madison (WQOW) - The Department of Justice is making progress on tens of thousands of concealed carry applications. 

Since November, 72,000 people have applied for a concealed carry license.  So far 59,000 of those have been approved with 1,250 being rejected.  The DOJ says the most common reason for applications being rejected is a mismatched address, which can be easily corrected on the Internet. 

To keep up with the demand, the DOJ has shifted full-time staff from other areas to go over applications, along with hiring several limited time employees.  The department says it's running about four to five days behind deadlines set by the law, but hopes to be caught up by the end of the week. 

The department's Handgun Hotline is also staying busy.  Last year was a record year for calls.  The hotline is used to perform background checks for gun sales.  In 2011 the hotline received nearly 89,000. That's up 60 percent from 2010.