Well. I show up three weeks ago at the appointed time and - he wasn't there. To make matters worse, the sheriff's office didn't do fingerprinting on Fridays (a point they neglected to tell me after I asked if they could do it while I was in for my appointment with the sheriff). A complete bust. I left the paperwork, asked his secretary to have him call me to ask me any questions, and reschedule a meeting at his convenience. Then went back to my local city police department (I live just outside the city limits), and fortunately they did the finger-printing for a small fee.
No word from the sheriff for a couple weeks, so I called his office Monday.
He wasn't available, so I left another message. Got a call back 3 minutes later from a Major in the department. Nice fellow - and I could tell right away he was uncomfortable calling me. Sure enough - "nothing to do with me" he said, "but the sheriff won't sign off on any requests for silencers".
We'll, I figured that he was a nice guy and just got stuck making the call because his worthless thing boss was too much of a coward to meet with me or call me and deny me to my face. No point in yelling at the messenger - or telling him it was a "suppressor" and that he (or the sheriff) had seen too many movies - or that I really didn't need his permission. Yes, the go-around is forming a trust, which is what I now have to do. This does not require the "chief law enforcement" officer's permission.
What a PITA - but there are few things I detest more in life than some pointy-head bureaucrat telling me what I can and can not do, so now come heck-or-high water, I'm going to do this!
Rant off...
