CONCEALED WEAPON LICENSE APPLICATION PROCESSING NOW AVAILABLE AT TAX COLLECTOR’S OFFICE

Local residents will be able to apply for their statewide Concealed Weapon License at the Okaloosa County Tax Collector’s Office starting this month. Tax Collector Ben Anderson has partnered with Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam to pass legislation that extends this opportunity to residents of Okaloosa County and the panhandle beginning September 22, 2014. Anderson says, “Our Office is one of only five Tax Collector Offices statewide to offer the program to our constituents.” Florida concealed weapon licenses are processed by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Due to rising demand, five Tax Collector Offices have been given authority to take applications, fingerprint the applicants and send the information securely to the department for final determination. There are currently more than 1.3 million concealed weapon permits in Florida, and the department processed more than 177,000 new licenses last fiscal year. Anderson says, “This is one service where applicants will need to make an appointment to be served and the location where they will complete their transaction is in our Crestview branch.” He continues, “We are currently scheduling appointments for our opening day of September 22.”  For more information or to schedule your appointment, please go to www.OkaloosaTax.com.