Wanted to provide an update.

I did receive a response from the Luzerne County Sheriff's office, and they were very professional and polite. They scheduled my appointment for me manually, to ensure that my permit was issued within the 45 day limit as required by law.

The Lieutenant who took care of the issue for me was extremely professional, and seemed to take the issue very seriously. We had a very respectful email exchange, which I appreciated very much. He seems to be a good man, and an honorable officer of the law. He did inform me that they would be reviewing their scheduling system and addressing any instances where people are restricted from obtaining their permit by more than 45 days, which at this point I imagine is a big task. I hope that is the case, and that they are able to find a suitable solution to fulfill all of those applications lawfully.

The clerk who processes the actual issuance of the permit seemed to be quite annoyed by the situation, and went out of her way to steer the conversation back into the original issue, just so that she could insist that it was "45 days to approve, not issue". I politely advised her that she was incorrect, and the law clearly states 45 days to issue. It wasn't too big of a deal, and she was mostly polite after that, but she did seem to let her personal feelings, whatever those may be, guide her into attempting to rehash the issue with me, which was entirely unnecessary. It could be that she is just overloaded, and worn out on processing all of these applications, but whatever the reason we cannot and should not allow our civil servants to make subjective adjustments to the laws which abridge our rights, in order to accommodate their personal feelings of agitation over logistical impossibilities which were created by unnecessary abridgements to our rights in the first place.

I certainly don't blame the Sheriff's office, or the processing clerks, personally for any part of this problem, but for the responsibility that is theirs to recognize the problem and take proactive corrective action in the course of their duties. However, I would encourage anyone who is facing this same issue, in any county, to speak up and insist that your rights not be further abridged by an ever changing and subjective standard of law based on the whims of individuals or the failings of logistics and processes to carry out their duties in accordance with the law. Perhaps if enough individuals press the issue, then it will stoke the engines of bureaucratic change, to more expediently find the most suitable process for issuing permits in accordance with the law while also relieving unnecessary stress and waste on their resources which they are experiencing right now.

If you do reach out, be professional, be respectful, and remember that to a lot of these people it's just a job. They're trying to manage the crap shoot they were handed. They're often not that concerned with your rights, because they're not even thinking about them. That's part of the problem, and it's on you to make it known how seriously you take your rights, and that you're willing to stand up for them.