Please continue contacting your state legislators in SUPPORT of repealing permit to purchase
While the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association (NCSA) has caused delays in the passage of an omnibus right-to-carry reform bill, House Bill 937, the NRA remains committed to passing and enacting legislation this year that will dramatically advance the rights of law-abiding gun owners in the Tar Heel State. The NCSA is opposing H 937 based solely on the provision added in the state Senate that would repeal the state's outdated, inefficient process for purchasing a handgun. In order to purchase a handgun in North Carolina, one must pass a background check and obtain a “handgun purchase permit” at their county sheriff’s office. This permit is then presented to a licensed firearms dealer and the transaction can be completed. This archaic system creates a de facto waiting period for handgun purchases. One county is reporting that the process to obtain a permit to purchase can take approximately thirty days!
The NRA remains deeply committed to repealing the permit to purchase provision and is working with legislators to ensure this is accomplished. Because time is running short on this year's legislative session, however, we are also working to ensure the rest of the pro-gun reforms contained in H 937 are enacted this year.
As passed in the state House in May, H 937 sought to make a number of important pro-gun reforms including, but not limited to:
- Allowing Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP) holders to lawfully carry their personal protection firearm into a restaurant that serves alcohol.
- Removing the prohibition on CHP holders from carrying into a place where tickets are sold for admission and would fix the problem of anti-gun localities overstepping their authority regarding restricting CHP holders from carrying firearms into locally controlled parks.
- Addressing some issues regarding firearms in a vehicle, as well as certain firearm issues on campus grounds.
- Bringing North Carolina in compliance with the standards set forth in the federal NICS Improvement Amendments Act (NIAA) of 2007—a critical mental health reform.
The Senate, through efforts led by state Senator Buck Newton (R-11), added to H 937 a number of critical reforms, including:
- Repealing the obsolete handgun permit to purchase requirement.
- Allowing CHP holders to transport their personal protection handguns in their motor vehicle while on all school property, as well as allow them to store those handguns in their locked vehicles while parked on school property.
- Ensuring the privacy of CHP holders by allowing access to the database of permittees only for law enforcement purposes.
- Removing the prohibition on CHP holders carrying their personal protection firearms during a parade or funeral.
- Removing the prohibition on using firearms with sound suppressing devices while otherwise lawfully hunting game.
Taking into consideration the solid and comprehensive reforms contained in H 937, the NRA is working with state legislators to address the permit to purchase provision in a way that will remove the NCSA opposition to the bill, while both preserving and passing all the provisions in H 937, and still allowing the NRA the ability to continue to work to repeal the permit to purchase requirement completely. Our goal is to bring North Carolina into the 21st Century by utilizing the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to ensure that prohibited persons cannot purchase a handgun from a Federal Firearms License (FFL) dealer, rather than using the outdated and flawed state-imposed handgun purchase permit scheme.
Please contact your state Representative and Senator and urge them to work with the NRA to pass the reforms in H 937, and to work with us on to repeal the handgun permit to purchase scheme.
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