NC law repealed requiring permit to buy a pistol; but you still need one to carry concealed
Despite the North Carolina legislature repealing the state’s pistol purchase permit requirements on Wednesday, a permit is still needed to carry a concealed weapon, Cumberland County Sheriff Ennis Wright said.
“The Sheriff's Office will not issue any pistol purchase permits but will continue to offer the services that it has previously provided with regard to concealed carry permits, fingerprinting and other services,” a news release said.
On Wednesday, the sheriff's Gun Permits Office began accepting walk-ins, Monday thru Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the background checks and fingerprints still needed for concealed carry.
Fingerprints required for concealed carry permits are done by appointment only. The release said system maintenance took the online portal for concealed carry permits offline, but it should resume soon.
Repeal of the law
Following the override of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto in a party-line vote Tuesday, the Republican-controlled legislature voted 71-46 to enact the bill, which eliminates the longstanding permit system requiring sheriffs to perform character evaluations and criminal history checks of pistol applicants.
Those who purchase pistols from a gun store or a federally licensed dealer are still subject to a national background check, and concealed weapons permits are still required.
Cooper and Democratic lawmakers warned it allows a greater number of dangerous people to obtain weapons through private sales, which do not require a background check, and limits law enforcement’s ability to prevent them from committing violent crimes.
Bill supporters say the sheriff screening process for handguns was no longer necessary in light of significant updates to the national background check system. They also argue the permit system wasn’t very effective at preventing criminals from obtaining guns.
The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association supports the repeal in light of national system updates, but its current president does not.
House Speaker Tim Moore, a Cleveland County Republican presiding over the chamber during the override vote, said the provisions contained within the bill “have been long-standing goals of Second Amendment advocates in our state, and we have finally brought this legislation over the finish line.”
Before the Senate vote Tuesday, some Democrats urged against loosening gun access in the immediate aftermath of Monday's mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, despite Republicans' insistence that lawmakers refrain from politicizing the shooting.
“For us to come in this tone deaf about what happened in Nashville and to pretend that it doesn't matter, to pretend that that might not be an issue that we've got to bring up, is disturbing — with a bunch of kids sitting up here," said House Minority Leader Robert Reives, referring to the school group watching from the gallery.
The Chatham County Democrat told reporters the permit repeal could allow domestic abusers and mentally ill people at risk of suicide to obtain guns.
Other measures in the bill
The enacted bill also will allow guns on some school properties where religious services are held, effective Dec. 1. The new law also creates and funds a two-year awareness campaign on the safe storage of firearms, which will distribute free gun locks.
Guns will not be permitted on campus during school hours or when students are present for extracurricular activities, and houses of worship can opt-out by posting signs.
Gun-rights advocates celebrated the override after trying for years to pass the pistol permit repeal.
“Second Amendment supporters made history today,” said Paul Valone, executive director of Grass Roots North Carolina, which campaigned last year for candidates so that Republican majorities could override Cooper’s gun-related vetoes.
Gun-control advocates lamented the override, saying the handgun permit elimination would imperil more people’s lives in the nation’s ninth-largest state.
“We will wake up five or 10 years from now and see that our gun homicide and gun suicide rates have risen,” Becky Ceartas with North Carolinians Against Gun Violence said in a news release.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC repeals law requiring permit to buy a pistol
