Change of Heart About Lehigh County Court House

**mikey** · December 6th, 2008, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by fuzzywuzzy

While it is discouraged, you can bring your firearm to the Lehigh County Courthouse and secure it in a locker at the Sheriff's Office. While both you and the Sheriff may disagree on how this is done, bottom line is, if you do, you can secure it there.

Simply tell the officers/deputies at the screening entrance that you wish to secure a legally carried firearm and ask what the proceedure is.

The older guys who work Courthouse Security in plainclothes are mostly retired cops and they are familiar with 903(e) and will give you no problem with it. They'll escort you or make whatever arrangements are needed to secure it quickly so you can go about your business.

Some of the young deputies may seem a little cocky or unsure and check with a supervisor. But nonetheless, even though Sheriff Rossi may not agree with 903(e), his office will comply with it, though you may not agree with how it took place.

Seems no place is hassle free these days.

First....Welcome to the forum!!

Second, you sound as though you are a deputy sheriff for Lehigh County. If so, I find it hard to believe that anyone should be expected to just accept the fact that they will be given a hard time about checking a firearm. If they know what the LAW is, they should just do their job and leave the personal beliefs in their heads. It will NEVER make sense to me why the organization responsible for granting LTCF's, don't even know what the law is regarding the use of said license. Sorry if it sounds like a rant, but, I have seen enough complaints about people being hassled for NOTHING, when there is no reason for it in the first place.

**Ten*K** · December 8th, 2008, 04:45 AM

i used to work as a Deputy Sheriff for Lehigh County, and I can tell you that the guys who are normally at the front door are average joe's making $9 an hour, and are not necessarily capable of influencing policy. the amount of gun lockers provided was 12. not exactly a huge number of lockers considering the amount of traffic through that lobby.

Now, to any folks who might possibly read this thread and say to themselves "well, why don't they just leave it in their car/at home", I would say that the specific area of downtown Allentown (where the courthouse stands) is the highest crime area in this part of the State.

as to the Assist. Sheriff "Wes", well, lets just say he is the Mr. Smithers to Rossi's Mr. Burns.

**HiredGoon** · December 8th, 2008, 05:32 AM

Was there ever any more response to the written letters or the phone calls about this?

**Pa. Patriot** · December 8th, 2008, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by fuzzywuzzy

While it is discouraged, you can bring your firearm to the Lehigh County Courthouse and secure it in a locker at the Sheriff's Office. While both you and the Sheriff may disagree on how this is done, bottom line is, if you do, you can secure it there.

Here lies the crux of the problem.

The Sheriff's office has absolutely no business "discouraging" people from requesting that the sheriff's office do what they are required by law to do.

**Fraggle09027** · December 8th, 2008, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by HiredGoon

Was there ever any more response to the written letters or the phone calls about this?

No response to the letter. I also followed up by a phone call which was never returned.

I am switching banks now to avoid dealing with them. If I keep going I'll have to OC the ar I just picked up.