I know I'm a hypocrite since I have a CCW and you shouldn't have to license a right, but that’s a battle for another day.
Things being what they are, and for the point of this discussion, here in Florida you must apply for a Carries Concealed Weapon permit in order to have a concealed weapon on your person. Criminals are exempt from this licensing scheme, which is odd since that's supposed to be the point of licensing or something, but I digress.
Via Uncle, it appears Florida can't keep up with the demand.
Here's my idea. I apply for my permit. It is instantly printed out and handed to me. Background checks are run later. If I'm a prohibited person, I just told the cops where to find me and they can come pick me up when the background check finally does go through.
"But Robb," I can hear you say, "What if some drug dealer gets his permit and then goes on a rampage, shooting kids with speech impediments????"
Generally, people who commit such crimes aren't going to go into a police station and apply for a big sign over their head saying "I CARRY A GUN" and those who do aren't exactly bright enough to not commit the crime anyway, permit be damned.
So, in my view, if it's implied that you must have a license, then it should be automatically given. Background checks can then take as long as the state wants without the need to hire more people to process them during times of heavy demand.
Licensing is pretty much only a revenue generating system (watch as the costs go up since they're having to hire more people). The "goal" of licensing is to ensure that people who carry concealed weaponry have some sort of rudimentary training and aren't criminals even though it has no effect on criminals since they don't apply. Being that it's useless to even have permits, there's no reason to not give them out and then go arrest the dumb ones who have criminal records and sign up.
Think of it like a honey pot!
This would inevitably feed justification of the anti's in my state for fighting LTC permits here even more.