A little while back, I applied for my North Carolina CCW permit. For those who may not know it, NC is a "Shall Issue" state. In NC, you need to take a basic CCW course that includes live fire of 30 rounds at three different distances.
If you are ex-military, you don't have to take the course, but you do have to submit a copy of your DD214. Not sure about all counties, but in Union County, you have to apply online with the Union County Sheriff's Office.
They told me it would take 90 days. In my case, it took 8 weeks (exactly 56 days). In the interim, before your CCW permit is issued, you can buy as many $5 "purchase permits" as you wish. Those allow you to purchase a handgun in NC even if you don't have a concealed carry permit.
Also, as I understand it, once you have your NC CCW permit, you can walk in, purchase a handgun, and immediately walk out with it. /Edit: having your CCW, known as a CHP (Concealed Handgun Permit) down here, you still have to fill out the 4471 form, and they charge you $12 for a Brady check, but they did not call the 4471 in and get a proceed like they did when I was in NY. The 4471 stayed in his hand from when I filled it out until I left with my new Kimber Micro 9 Raptor. They did take my DL and my CCW permit into the back room for a couple of minutes initially,- maybe that is when they ran the Brady check (whatever that consists of, as I never ran into that back in NY)? /End of edit.
Lastly, having a NC permit gets you full reciprocity with South Carolina, which is a good thing, since living in Charlotte, you're on the NC/SC border, and can easily cross into and out of SC without notice.
SC is "different", - they don't allow reciprocity with most of the other "non anti-gun" states. Other than having either NC or GA permits (which border SC, and that they give reciprocity to), you have to own property in SC to get the right to carry in SC.
Funny thing is, now having an NC and a NY permit, I don’t really need the PA and FL permits anymore. According to handgunlaw.us and usacarry.com, I am good to go in 40 states,- the others being the standard anti’s with little or no reciprocity of HI, CA, OR, MN, IL, MA, CT, NJ, MD, and RI,- and of course, the deep state, DC, and our overseas territories.
If you are ex-military, you don't have to take the course, but you do have to submit a copy of your DD214. Not sure about all counties, but in Union County, you have to apply online with the Union County Sheriff's Office.
They told me it would take 90 days. In my case, it took 8 weeks (exactly 56 days). In the interim, before your CCW permit is issued, you can buy as many $5 "purchase permits" as you wish. Those allow you to purchase a handgun in NC even if you don't have a concealed carry permit.
Also, as I understand it, once you have your NC CCW permit, you can walk in, purchase a handgun, and immediately walk out with it. /Edit: having your CCW, known as a CHP (Concealed Handgun Permit) down here, you still have to fill out the 4471 form, and they charge you $12 for a Brady check, but they did not call the 4471 in and get a proceed like they did when I was in NY. The 4471 stayed in his hand from when I filled it out until I left with my new Kimber Micro 9 Raptor. They did take my DL and my CCW permit into the back room for a couple of minutes initially,- maybe that is when they ran the Brady check (whatever that consists of, as I never ran into that back in NY)? /End of edit.
Lastly, having a NC permit gets you full reciprocity with South Carolina, which is a good thing, since living in Charlotte, you're on the NC/SC border, and can easily cross into and out of SC without notice.
SC is "different", - they don't allow reciprocity with most of the other "non anti-gun" states. Other than having either NC or GA permits (which border SC, and that they give reciprocity to), you have to own property in SC to get the right to carry in SC.
Funny thing is, now having an NC and a NY permit, I don’t really need the PA and FL permits anymore. According to handgunlaw.us and usacarry.com, I am good to go in 40 states,- the others being the standard anti’s with little or no reciprocity of HI, CA, OR, MN, IL, MA, CT, NJ, MD, and RI,- and of course, the deep state, DC, and our overseas territories.
Last edited: