The Wisconsin Department of Justice prints concealed carry license number 200,000.

That milestone license was issued yesterday, September 30, 2013. Brian O’Keefe is administrator for the Division of Law Enforcement Services at DOJ. He says the agency has had a “robust response” to the program that began 23 months ago. That’s when Wisconsin legalized the carrying of concealed weapons for law-abiding citizens who get state permits.

The Justice Department was overwhelmed with a backlog of permit requests in the months after concealed carry took effect. O’Keefe says his office now gets between 500 to 1,000 permit applications each week — and most are processed in less than a week.

O’Keefe reminds those seeking a concealed carry license about the reduced application fee — from 50 bucks to $40. He says it’s important to submit the appropriate amount to avoid a delay in processing. Otherwise, there are no major issues preventing people from getting their applications approved. “The big one for us right now is they are sending too much money in. Those continue to come in at probably abut 25 percent of our licenses since the price went down on July 1st.”

O’Keefe says the office doesn’t have the authority to accept more funds than are necessary for the program, so they return the entire package and ask for a new check with the appropriate amount. Other applications are rejected because of minor errors, such as forgetting to include a name or date of birth.

The license application fee was reduced from an initial cost of $50 to the current cost of $40 as a result of the enactment of the Permanent Rules regarding CCW and Act 20. Wisconsin Act 35, which implemented the state’s concealed carry program, took effect on November 1, 2011.

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