NC would end pistol permits under bill moving through House

A longtime North Carolina law requiring pistol purchase permits could be repealed under a new version of a bill that advanced through a House committee on Tuesday.

The law requires buyers of handguns to obtain a permit from a local sheriff and undergo a background check. Rep. Jay Adams, a Hickory Republican and lead sponsor of the bill, called the law “obsolete” and said the emphasis should be on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Eddie Caldwell Jr., executive vice president and general counsel of the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association, said the group previously opposed the repeal but that “times have changed” as the national system has improved.

“The NICS check has done to pistol permits what email has done to the fax machine. That is, made it obsolete. The NICS check is more thorough,” he told The News & Observer after the Judiciary committee meeting Tuesday. The move by the association to support the repeal comes from a vote of its executive committee.

The latest version of House Bill 398, called “Pistol Permit Modifications,” would repeal the pistol permit law in North Carolina, relying instead on the federal background checks that are run on gun buyers.

Becky Ceartas, executive director of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence, has concerns about the potential repeal because background checks aren’t always done at gun shows, in private transfers and in online gun sales.

She said the group supports the permitting system and urged lawmakers to oppose the repeal.

Law origin

Adams called the pistol purchase permit law “obsolete” and called for emphasis on the national background system.

In 2019, Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive directive to help close gaps in background checks. In 2018, Cooper convened the National Instant Criminal Background Check System working group to identify and fix gaps in firearms background checks.

Cooper said in 2019 that as a result, “more than 284,000 convictions have been added to the federal background check system.” The State Bureau of Investigation led the work.

The pistol permit law has been around since Jim Crow.

“It does have its roots in Jim Crow laws, no doubt about it, but that’s not the issue before us,” Adams said.

In November 2020, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office returned to a 14-day turnaround time for permits after slowing them during the coronavirus pandemic, The News & Observer previously reported.

Caldwell said the timing of this support from the Sheriffs’ Association is “not based on any current activities going on across the state, it’s just a feeling that the benefits of the pistol permits have been replaced by [NICS].”

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Pandora, Spotify. Apple Podcasts. Stitcher. iHeartRadio. Amazon Music, Megaphone or wherever you get your podcasts.