Honest Citizen? Carry a handgun? Not in Charlotte!

[crimefighter]

This post is strictly to inform 'good & honest' citizens here in Charlotte that the Sheriff's Department here has done everything in their power to PREVENT people from owning concealed handguns in Charlotte, NC.

Many readers have not or would not think of ever owning a handgun - and definitely would never consider carrying one, concealed. Don't worry - you may never get the 'privilege'!

More than likely, you won't even think about obtaining this 'Permit' in Mecklenburg county until you or someone you love becomes a victim of a violent crime in Charlotte. Once you do though (and if you live here long enough, you will), you may start looking into what it takes to carry a side arm or 'purse gun' legally. Although the folks in the NC Government have made it 'legal' to obtain a Concealed Handgun Permit in North Carolinas - it is very difficult to get.

Here are the steps:
Sign up for a Department of Justice Approved Handgun Safety Class (6 hours)
Call the Sheriff's office and 'Make an Appointment'.
Go to the Sheriff's Office in Person and do your Application
Pay the Sheriff $90 in Cash
Wait the FULL 90 day waiting period
Pick up you permit, in person.

Sounds easy? Wrong.

The classes are jam packed, literally, your lucky to even get a seat! Most waiting lists for the class exceed 2-4 weeks and range from $100-$150. When you finish the class, you receive a Certificate of Completion, now what? Well if you haven't made an appointment with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office yet your going to wait for at least 60-90 more days to get it.

So if you decided to go forward at this point and took the class - you are still another 3 1/2 - 4 months away from getting an appointment with the Sherrif's Office to APPLY for the PERMIT!

Now your thinking - I waited this long, I guess I walk in and get it? Think again. In Mecklenburg County they won't call you until the 89-90th day. That is the end of the NC "90 day Maximum Processing Time".

So if you get robbed today - you can't protect yourself for another 6 1/2- 7 months from now. Wow, what a great area we live in!

I will note for the record: You CAN get handgun purchase permits in less than 30 days, no appointment (as of the day of this writing). But don't dare think of shooting someone with it unless you plan on keeping it at your house which isn't where you will most likely be robbed. A Concealed Handgun Permit is a testament to you being a 'good citizen' and the police will cut you more slack because of it.

Also in NC, you cannot legally shoot someone who is robbing you unless they are using a dangerous weapon to do so.

Finally, since I didn't mention it before - if you've ever been arrested - forget getting the permit and wasting your time, your application will be denied.

[Prosecutor]

I agree that the approval process takes too long.

It can take the Sheriff's Department two months to set up an appointment for the CCW permit ad the 90 day clock starts running from the date of the appointment.

I have a CCW permit and almost never leave home without my Kimber tactical ultra carry (.45) or my S & W Model 442 revolver.

Stay safe

[karz10]

Personally, I'm also of the opinion there are too many 'off limits' areas even if you have a Concealed Weapons Permit.

For example, if the area is declared a state of ermergency for any reason, like there's a flood, hurricane, anything. Nowadays they start declaring an area a state of emergency before a storm even hits, to speed up the state and federal processes to get aid in, should it be needed. As the current law is written, as far as I know, you can't carry off your premises legally. So let's say a Katrina type situation hits here, or some other natural disaster, or terrorist threat exists, state of emergency is declared, you have your family set up somewhere safe, but you need to get supplies, this law would prevent you from venturing out into the chaos armed to protect yourself legally. Or let's say you try to evacuate the situation and flee somewhere else w/ your family, if it's a state of emergency, better not be packin' or at least not be discovered... Funny, wouldn't most sane people understand this is when you might need to protect you and your family the most? When law enforcement and other first responders are busy dealing with looters, stranded victims, life threatening injuries, interuptions with transportation routes, communication, loss of power, inoperable security systems, and other crimes, you are even less protected from random crimes than when under normal circumstances, as there may be less police presence in your area, and response times to crimes may increase significantly, and yet this is when the lawmakers feel you should leave your defense weapon at home?

Also, you can't legally carry anywhere that sells alcohol for consumption. So, one might think that makes sense, wouldn't want a bunch of drunks shootin' up the place. But remember, this includes restaurants, and even affects people who do not drink. So you could be in a restaurant w/ your family drinking water, but you can't legally carry in there if they sell beer to someone else. What is someone comes in to rob the place, or someone approaches you to rob you in the parking lot, since legally, you would have to leave your weapon in the car.

Then, they complain when weapons are getting stolen out of people's cars. Well, I doubt so many weapons would be in cars, if there were more places that allowed you to carry them.

You also can't carry anywhere that has an 'assembly' or where 'admission was charged' hmmmm, so once again, they'd rather have large groups of people gathered together that are unarmed and unable to defend themselves against armed assailants. Fantastic.

Remember, as the original poster pointed out, it's the 'LAW ABIDING CITIZEN' who will observe these laws, and so called SAFE-ZONES, or GUN-FREE-ZONES. Well, it isn't a secret anymore, criminals know these places are filled with unarmed people, and guess what, they're criminals, they don't obey the law, they don't care about a law or sign that says 'no weapons' they see that as an opportunity to take advantage of law abiding citizens.

Don't even get me started on the schools, while I understand there's a lot of room for debate there, there are two sides to that story. Personally, I would want authorized / legal persons to be able to defend themselves and those around them, should the need arise, and give a criminal a second thought before preying on the most innocent and defensless targets.

With that said, I know a few alternatives to speed up the access to the class portion, should one be interested in obtaining a NC CWP, there are some SC instructors on the other side of the line, that also teach the NC classes, in case the Charlotte guys are too booked.

Another alternative would be to move to Fort Mill or other nearby area, not to suggest that's the only reason to move to these areas, but I'm just pointing out the difference in the process. While NC's permit currently offers more reciprocity with other states, I will say that the SC permit was fairly easy to obtain. Still have the class, but they took all the fingerprints and pictures in the class, one guys offers a couple's class for $120 to cover 2 people, then all you had to do was write the $50 check (per person) to the SLED (SC Law Enforcement Division) for the actual permit, and mail it in. A couple months later, you have your permit, barring any unforseen issues.

If you live in SC, the castle doctrine language is a little stronger IMO, defending the victim's rights, anyone trying to get into your house, your car, get you out of your car, etc. those that try to enter your car, get you out of your car, or enter your home have no 'rights' so to speak should you choose to defend yourself, and it's written in that they cannot sue you in such an incident later.

Also, in SC, while there is a background check prior to purchasing any firearm, there's not the other 'special permit' to purchase handguns in SC, so w/ or w/out a CWP, the handgun purchase itself is a little more straightforward, no visit to the Sheriff etc. Again, there's still a background check, but that doesn't take long and usually can be done at point of sale, I believe.

Some interesting sources for compiling handgun laws and related info include www.handgunlaw.us and www.packing.org

Also follow their links to the appropriate state agency sites for the actual written code, but sites like these offer an easy to use interface to research various things of this nature...

Regards,

Karz

[DaveLee]

I agree with Karz 100% - You can't even buy booze in SC on Sunday... No wonder the rest of the world laughs at the US!

No one here is even mentioning the sale of illegal drugs is what allows the thugs to get funded, buy weapons, and create their 'gang'. Without drug running, being in a gang would be pretty lame and stupid. The reason the terrorists are around is because we buy their gas, if we didn't need their oil they would be dead broke. What's sad is how hard it is to obtain legal narcotics for people that suffer with chronic pain from auto accidents, injuries, cancer, etc.

In Canada you can walk into a free clinic and walk out with Vicodin or Oxycodone with no problem. There is virtually no drug trafficking problem in Canada, yet the US spends billions on the DEA. Why not use that money for better security and police?

Hey you can go buy some crack or weed pretty cheap in most parts of charlotte, but you can't get legal prescription pain meds because the docs here think your an addict.

What a wonderful country we are in, NOT!

[Joe Blow]

Just a correction on the law.

You CAN shoot someone who is robbing you if you reasonably believe you are in danger of death or serious bodily injury. There is no weapon requirement as long as you subjectively and objectively believe you are in grave danger.

[lala girl]

Being in the healthcare profession I don't really see a big problem with people getting pain meds for legitimate reasons. The problem is that some people wamt narcotic pain meds too often instead of a non addicting one. Cancer patients are not denied any of these meds that I have seen. Doctors can tell when pts start requesting meds by name and too often. Another problem is that some of these narcotics are so strong they are sold on the streets, not as pain meds but for people who just want a "high". In general, we are a very addictive society.

[bigtraps]

I got my CCW because the guy that lives in the rental house across the street from me sub-lets to basically only felons. Luckily the last felon that lived with him is waiting trial for his felony larceny and 2 parole violations in the past 4 months.

Just a note:

They do not send you a notice when you need to renew your CCW permit. If it expires, you have to take the class again.

[dorkoverlord]

Just carry openly and proudly.


www.opencarry.com