Active Army - County Question

**JeremyN** · March 26th, 2019, 10:48 AM

I apologize if anyone asked this before, if so please point me to that post..

I am attempting to get my conceal carry permit.

Background: I am an active duty military, stationed in IL (reason I'm going back to PA for it). I am from Franklin county and my PA driver license has an address from Franklin county. My truck is registered in PA, but has my IL address. I do not have a home or anything else in PA, but I am resident, file taxes etc. The state of PA knows i live in IL.

Question: Can I, being a resident of PA go to any county sheriff to apply versus going back to Franklin county? For example, I will be in Washington county for an event and considered applying there for the permit. I contacted the sheriffs office (Washington County) and the lady I spoke with wasn't grasping what I was asking, and suggested I bring my orders into the office to try it. Being that this is out of my way, I wanted to get a feel from everyone on if this is possible being that I am a PA resident, but not a resident of any specific county being military.

Thanks

**middlefinger** · March 26th, 2019, 11:26 AM

.

no

you must apply in the county you reside

**gghbi** · March 26th, 2019, 11:30 AM

AS I understand it, if you are getting a PA resident permit you have to apply in your county of residency which seems to be Franklin, based on what you have here. I know there are special rules for active duty military that live out of state for many things, but am not aware of this for LTCF applications.

BTW you might want to spend some time on handgunlaw.us or some other web sites, as IL is listed as NOT recognizing PA License to carry firearms in that state and it does have some funky laws on guns, which is not good for we who own them. Still a good idea to have your PA LTCF anyway.

**Sgt.K** · March 26th, 2019, 02:46 PM

If memory serves, IL resident permit is "only" $150, while non-res is $300 - and you are not from one of the states to which they will issue non-res.

If you're getting your PA so you can carry in IL, you're barking up the wrong tree. Get your IL if you intend to (legally) carry there.

**Rosco the Iroc** · March 26th, 2019, 03:26 PM

1- for your PA got to go to your county
2- for IL, got to find a local expert. But when I was active in VA I got a res permit there. Yes with PA DL/ copy of orders, had a car reg there with local tax form for the house I had.

When I ret, VA put my PA new PA ADDR on my res permit and I ran that till I got my PA one. They did not renew it like that though.

**BIGPOPPA** · March 26th, 2019, 03:37 PM

My oldest is Active USAF in South Dakota. He has both resident PA LTCF and a resident SD CCW, as his 'home of record' is PA and SD recognizes active duty personnel there as residents for CCW purposes. I'm many years removed from active duty, but isn't there a document that you could get some personnel stating your 'Home of Record' along with your other PA state documents? Not knowing the details, I would ASSuME that you'd have to then go to Franklin County.

As for IL, I concur that a local expert there would be best advised.

**JeremyN** · March 26th, 2019, 04:10 PM

Thanks all for the input.

I am not worried about IL as i am PCSing in a few weeks to another state that accepts PA with no issues.

My biggest question was can i go to a different county given that I have no ties to my old county of residence. The state knows me as a resident that lives in IL, not in Franklin county which is why i was asking.

Better info i found here is that either way, Franklin county has a mail in option, so doesn't matter if i wont be in the county for a few months.

**Parrisk** · March 26th, 2019, 04:14 PM

You could ask the Sheriff.. but I stand with the others that you need to apply in your county of residence, Franklin County

Thanks for your service

**knight0334** · March 26th, 2019, 04:26 PM

Originally Posted by JeremyN

Thanks all for the input.

I am not worried about IL as i am PCSing in a few weeks to another state that accepts PA with no issues.

My biggest question was can i go to a different county given that I have no ties to my old county of residence. The state knows me as a resident that lives in IL, not in Franklin county which is why i was asking.

Better info i found here is that either way, Franklin county has a mail in option, so doesn't matter if i wont be in the county for a few months.

Even if Franklin Co has a mail-in, you would still need to appear in person to pick it up. Either at application or pickup time, your ID has to be scanned and your picture taken with the system's camera.

**gnbrotz** · March 26th, 2019, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by knight0334

Even if Franklin Co has a mail-in, you would still need to appear in person to pick it up. Either at application or pickup time, your ID has to be scanned and your picture taken with the system's camera.

This is correct. Normal turn-around here is about 2 weeks. If you think it will literally be "months" until you're back, you may want to sit tight until about 3 weeks out, then send the application and/or make a phone call explaining the situation. I don't know what they do if an approval lingers for 2 months, and the clerk you will need to speak to is a gun-hater and usually less than cordial/helpful, so I'd do everything on your end to make sure you can get it while here without hassle.

If you have months, you may want to even write a letter, so you have clarification in hand from them. "Someone told me"....can be easily denied.