Patience is the word for gun permit applicants waiting for approval at the Douglas County sheriff's office. Background checks are required but a connection to the state crime history computer has been shooting blanks for almost a week.

Sheriff's staffer Andy Berkshire said, "We can't run background checks because we're not getting all our responses back from the criminal data bases."

Chief deputy Marty Bilek said, "If we don't have that information to us then we risk giving a firearms certificate to someone who is prohibited because they have a felony record or warrant."

Nebraska State Patrol Lt. Colonel Tom Schwarten told Fact Finders a new criminal history system went on line last week. He said there's been some confusion on how to access the right page that provides criminal history. The vendor is helping sheriff's personnel through the process.

About 300 applications have been waiting approval n Douglas County. That backlog should drop this week and permits sent out or applicants can go to the sheriff's office at 156th and West Maple to pick up theirs.