Allegheny County Sheriff postpones firearm-carry license application event, halts walk-in applications

An application event for licenses to carry firearms scheduled for Saturday in Ohio Township has been postponed, and the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office is ceasing walk-in applications as well, officials said Monday.

The changes are the result of spiking covid-19 cases in the county, said Chief Deputy Kevin Kraus.

The sheriff’s office had initially scheduled a satellite license to carry event at the Ohio Township Volunteer Fire Company this Saturday but “we are duty-bound to ensure the safety of the general public,” Kraus said in a statement.

He noted that the school district that serves the township, Avonworth, announced last week it would move to all-online learning for two weeks.

Kraus said events like the one scheduled for Saturday can draw upward of 500 applicants and, amid a deadly pandemic, “would cause a very hazardous environment for applicants, sheriff’s office personnel and the first responders” from Ohio Township who were to assist in the event.

They will also temporarily halt all walk-in license-to-carry applications at the sheriff’s office in the Allegheny County Courthouse in Downtown Pittsburgh. Applicants will be served via appointment only, Kraus said, and he noted that appointments are currently booked through April 1, 2021.

He said the office will extend appointments into April if necessarily but will otherwise reopen to walk-ins before then.

“By no means was this an easy decision,” he said.

A post to the office’s Facebook page last week showed the line for a license to carry wrapping around the courthouse.

The Pennsylvania State Police in September announced another extension on firearms permits, the second such extension. Permits that expired on or after March 19 are now valid through the end of the year.