I like many
Americans enjoy my freedom to own firearms for the purpose of self-defense,
hunting, and the joy of shooting.
Growing up on a farm in Oklahoma, hunting and shooting were activities I
enjoyed my entire life and guns were bought, traded, and passed down between
family and friends. I moved to North
Carolina 10 plus years ago and both of my children were born here. We have been in Salisbury for a little over a
year now. I recently decided to purchase
a handgun for my wife and me, as well as a couple of small caliber rifles for
my children to start learning how to handle and shoot guns responsibility. I investigated the North Carolina gun laws
and realized I could buy a rifle without purchasing a permit and the dealer
would perform the background check on me at their location. However in order to purchase a handgun I must
go to my local Sheriff’s Department and purchase a permit to purchase.
At a time where
gun control is such a hot topic, every state needs to take another look at
their gun policies to ensure they are in line with the true spirit of the
second amendment our founding fathers established many years ago. We have seen some horrible events take place
in this country which has sparked the gun controversy once again, yet the
constitution grants all Americans “the right to keep and bear arms and this
right shall not be infringed”. So how
should North Carolina handle this extremely emotional issue?
After thinking
about this process I really was bothered that I, as a law abiding citizen,
would have to pay the county in order to exercise my right granted to me by the
Constitution. I am not claiming I or
anyone else should not go through a background check to ensure we are not criminals
or dangerous people. I am simply
suggesting we should not be required to pay for the ability to purchase a
handgun. I realize the cost is only
$5.00 per permit and the money covers the time the county officials who run the
check, but I feel this is completely unnecessary for a couple of reasons. The first reason is we as Americans should
not have to pay to have the ability
to purchase anything. We already pay
sales tax, state income tax, and federal income taxes. The second reason is I feel the county could
spend their time on other issues and allow the dealers who already run
background checks on all other weapons to perform them on handguns. Why should North Carolina have this added
level of unnecessary bureaucracy in place to cover handguns specifically?
However the
biggest problem with obtaining this permit is the actual process itself. After filling out the form at my local
Sheriff’s office in Salisbury to clear the “mental health” portion of the
background check (which is filled with questions no mentally unfit person would
actually answer incorrectly) it was notarized then and there as I submitted it
to the staff in the office. I was told
it would take ten days to get approved or denied. I thought ten days was a lengthy amount of
time to run a simple background check in which dealers in other states do in a
matter of minutes (and North Carolina already does for any rifle, shotgun, etc).
I have a relative who lives in Georgia
and he was able to purchase his handgun with the retailer running the
background check and obtain the handgun within twenty minutes. However I was willing to wait because
obtaining the weapon was not a dire situation.
Day ten rolled around and still I had not received a phone call so I
waited over the weekend and expected the call the following Monday. After leaving multiple voice-mails and
receiving no return calls, I finally spoke with someone on day 12. She was very courteous and said my status
was “pending”. She advised me to call
back in two days if I had not heard from anyone. After many more voice-mails and calls, I still
have not received my answer. Today is
day twenty one…
I have been
waiting almost a month to have a background check ran and approved to allow me
to purchase an item from a local business.
On the other hand, I could purchase a handgun from an individual without
going through this process at all. Why
would someone purchase a permit and wait this amount of time when they could
purchase immediately from an individual?
I would rather support my local economy and ensure I am purchasing an
item which is 100% legal.
What if my family was
in immediate danger and we decided we needed a handgun to protect ourselves? Of course if we were in that situation we
would have contacted the local police department about any such threat or
concern, but where we live it would be highly unlikely officers would arrive in
time if there were actually an incident.
Should we have to wait twenty one days (and more) to buy a handgun? I have spoken with others whom share the same
concern and from what I have been told, different counties move at differing paces.
I had a gentlemen
tell me the previous Sheriff in his county denied him the permit due to a past
violation which was expunged from his record and the new Sheriff approved him
on his first application. With
discretion going to the local Sheriff, it creates the ability for a single
individual to discriminate intentionally or accidentally, with intentional
discrimination being a HUGE concern. It
also allows the Sheriff to slow the process indefinitely if they so choose,
all seemingly based on their personal whims.
I feel that states
like GA who allow their licensed dealers provide the federal background check
at their business would make a lot more sense.
It would free up our local Sheriff’s Departments to work on more
important concerns within their county, such as fighting crime. It would allow the citizen to legally purchase
a handgun from a local licensed dealer without having to wait extremely long
periods of time which in some cases could actually put them in danger. We all know criminals do not wait to legally
obtain a weapon to commit a crime with. Let
the local licensed dealer perform the checks required by the ATF and it will
free up our county officials to more efficiently run their county.
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