……….Recently I completed a course for the Utah Concealed Carry Permit. Although I am a resident of Washington State, Utah and Washington share a reciprocal agreement that allows me to hold the Utah permit. I have had a WA permit previously and it covers only WA state. The Utah permit, on the other hand, covers 33 states. Four of the states require that you are a resident of their state for the permit to actually be legal within their boundaries. That means, that having the Utah permit will allow me to carry a concealed weapon in 29 states, including my home state of Washington.

……….The screw balls on the left can say what they may but this permit is not just summarily handed out. Villains, criminals and the like would never expose themselves to the scrutiny required to hold such a permit. I had to answer a series of questions, go through a four hour seminar and provide the state of Utah with my fingerprints, a photo and other pertinent information. The prints will be sent to the FBI and run through their system to assert that I am legally acceptable to hold such a permit. Now to my shoutouts.

……….At 8:20 AM this morning I drove to the Wenatchee Police Department to get fingerprinted. I was greeted by a nice lady, behind the glass. I was able to proceed to my appointment prior to my designated time. The Wenatchee Police have the new technology for fingerprinting. Rather than the old messy ink, they use a compact technology that is like a mini scanner without any noticeable moving parts. It takes a few minutes to get all of the prints just right prior to printing off on the designated sheet. The lady doing the fingerprinting was funny and very professional. I thank them for keeping the cost manageable and an end product of the highest quality.

……….After I was finished at the Police Department I had to decide where to go to get my passport photo for the packet that I was required to send to Utah. Costco was my first choice but they don’t open until later, it was only 8:50. I drove down to my local AAA and was greeted accordingly. Karen was at the counter and answered my most pressing question. I wanted to know how much the fee would be for a set of passport photos. Since I am a member of AAA, I was told the cost would be $5.00 plus tax. That was just a few cents more than Costco.

……….I got my photo taken and the pictures were placed in a nice sleeve. I mentioned my website to the employees present and talked about a future trip to New York City. I noted that closer to the scheduled time, I would be back to get the appropriate materials to help enrich my trip. As I was leaving I stopped for a quick chat with my automobile insurance agent, Brenda Pickering. She helped me save lots of money on my car insurance and I appreciate that. AAA has long been an important part of my life. Their services have provided relief on many occasions. Thanks to all that I encountered this morning (12/10/2009).