CANTON, New York (WWNY) – St. Lawrence County’s roller coaster ride with pistol permits may be over. A judge who made a campaign promise to remove restrictions is back on the job.
Greg Storie ran for county judge promising to be a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and to remove pistol permit restrictions loathed by gun owners. He’s now doing that.
“Now that Judge Storie has taken over those duties fully, people will get satisfaction and know that their vote for Greg Storie for county judge was the right vote,” said Kevin Acres, St. Lawrence County legislator.
Storie was elected in November 2020. He had been off the bench in St. Lawrence County since he was sent to Schenectady County for further training in mid-May 2021. He then went out on medical leave. He returned to the bench in Saratoga County in August 2021 to train under another judge.
For most of the past two years, pistol permits have been handled by Hamilton County Judge Tatiana Coffinger. She did remove use restrictions imposed by a former judge. But she imposed a gun-safety course requirement and wouldn’t allow guns to be co-registered with others outside the home.
With Storie, those requirements are now gone. New York state gives a lot of discretion to judges in how pistol permits are handled. That’s one reason you’ll often see big changes when a new judge comes into office. And it’s also a reason why you’ll see big differences in how pistol permits are handled from county to county.
People also complained of longer wait times for pistol permits because applications had to go to the out-of-town judge. The clerk’s office says there has been a one-day turn-around in getting some signed by Storie.
“Excellent,” said Nick Valdivez, TNT Tackle owner. “I mean, everybody’s amazed. It went from being terrible – wait two months or more -to just like the old days. Just take it up there.”
First-time pistol permits still are not easy to get. Those require a local police investigation, a national background check and a lot of paperwork. The last step is the judge’s signature.
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