State Police Announce Shutdown
of Pennsylvania Instant Check System
The Pennsylvania State Police have announced a shutdown of the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) set to go into effect Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007 at 6 p.m. until Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007 at noon.

During this time period no transfers of firearms will be allowed and no concealed carry permits will be issued. This outage also coincides with the beginning of the mourning dove season which opens Sept. 1.
"While no one opposes upgrades and improvements to the state police criminal records databases, we are very disappointed that the state police are providing just short notice of this outage, that they have scheduled the outage at the beginning of the dove season and that the outage will last for four days," said NSSF Senior Vice President Lawrence G. Keane. "We will be working with NRA, the Pennsylvania Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus and the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs Inc. to inform the state police of our concerns and to try to find ways to lessen the inconvenience to Pennsylvania firearms dealers and their customers. We will explore whether dealers can temporarily conduct background checks through FBI-NICS and whether the outage can be scheduled to be done during the overnight period or at a less inconvenient time of year."
NSSF urges you to please contact your state representatives and Lt. Gary L. Schuler, director of the Pennsylvania State Police Firearms Division, immediately to express your disappointment and concern.
Contact your legislators:
Pennsylvania retailers click here
Pennsylvania residents click here
To contact Pennsylvania State Police Firearms Division Director Lt. Gary L. Schuler, call the Firearms Division at 717-783-5593.