If you were moving to Charlotte, NC from out of State, what do I need to know about guns that may be going with that person, ie... one pistol and one shotgun?

If that person has an out of State permit to carry, what is involved in obtaining one in NC

Is Charlotte gun friendly or not?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

NC is still a southern state in many ways. The decades-long influx of persons into the research triangle, the banking and other industries, etc have created a bit more diversity in political views, versus say Alabama. (Born in Charlotte but my adult years have been in AL.)

I’m not current on their specific laws but I’d think the climate is still friendly, relatively, as to your concerns.

Open carry is legal - no permit required. Concealed carry requires a permit. Check state reciprocity laws to see whether your existing permit allows you to carry concealed when visiting prior to change in residence.

Concealed carry requires notifying LEO when interacting on official business. e.g. If you get pulled over and an accessible handgun is concealed, you must tell the officer. Loaded vs unloaded doesn’t matter. Transport laws are very vague.

Obtaining a permit requires taking an all-day class, which includes qualification on a range. The written test and qualification are both easy. After the class you apply for the concealed handgun permit with the sheriff’s department in your county of residence. I believe you have to be a resident for at least 30 days. Then you wait. How long probably depends on how blue the county is. Mecklenburg County will be one of the worst in the state. Max wait is supposed to be 45 days. Application fee is around $90 if I remember correctly. Renew every 5 years.

N.C. is in some ways still living in the Jim Crowe days... you have to have the county sheriff's permission to buy a handgun or get a permit... hope you are the right color / economic stature or you're just tuff out of luck.

quote:

Originally posted by P-220:
Is Charlotte gun friendly or not?

NC is obviously a lot more gun friendly than many other states, but it is one of the least, if not least gun friendly state in the south. You need a pistol purchase permit or carry license to buy firearms from anyone and you must also get training to get a carry license. In comparison, there is no training requirements in Georgia and many other southern states. Here you pay your money, get fingerprinted and background checked and in most counties you have your permit in less than 2 weeks.

Also in NC posted businesses that ban the concealed carry of weapons have force of law. In Georgia they do not. NC is also a duty to inform state if pulled over. Georgia is not.

It’s interesting how the laws evolve in a given state. In AL in the late 80’s, I had to have personal references when applying for my permit and I also recall listing a firearm’s serial number. Offhand, I can’t recall if there was a waiting period, but I think there was.

After a long hiatus, I applied for a permit in 2017 while getting a car tag. I was happy & shocked at the extreme ease. I filled out a form and walked out with a valid multi-year permit.

We’ve had a state congressman routinely propose a failed bill to eliminate the need for a permit altogether. His argument has mostly related to the unnecessary “taxing” of owners. So far, I don’t think that bill has had any real steam.

Mecklenburg county is Liberal
Stay out of Mecklenburg county.

Getting your concealed permit will take two months or so, including one 8 hour required training session.
Get your concealed permit and then you do not need to get permission slips for each handgun purchased.

Stores can, and do post no firearms signs which you are required to comply with.

Charlotte leans liberal so you will get some local anti-gun impressions

but NC is generally pretty gun friendly. not perfect but not horrible either.

the county matters also.

for ease of acquisition - just get a CHL permit and you can dispense with the 'pistol purchase permit' nonsense. CHLs are fairly hassle-free to obtain and IIRC last 5 yrs. the issuance is 'shall issue' by your county sheriff vs 'may issue'.

no waiting period for handguns because you have already jumped through the hoops to get a purchase permit or a CHL

one thing i personally don't like (when I lived there) is there is the 'duty to inform' LE if you are stopped in traffic that you have a concealed handgun on your person. i think that's a needless provision.

as stated -- open carry is legal

no silly ammo / magazine or AR restrictions

don't know about NFA -- but I'm pretty sure that's county specific based on the personality of the Sheriff.

overall -- I'd probably rate it a 6 or 7 out of 10. based mainly on the infringement of the 'purchase permit' nonsense.

the NC gun rights group is strong. highly encourage you to join if you move there.

Grass Roots NC.

https://www.grnc.org/


NC DOJ link here:

https://ncdoj.gov/law-enforcem...-weapon-reciprocity/

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NFA is typical Form 1 or Form 4 process.
You need to notify the Chief LEO in your area, no response required.
Silencers, short barrel rifles/shotguns, machineguns, & AOW are permitted upon ATF Taxstamp approval.

Sounds like your questions have been answered pretty well. Charlotte and the area around have something for everyone. From farming to high rise apartments.

If you have any more specific questions I’d be glad to help.

I would probably rate N.C. an 8 out of 10 for gun friendliness. However I live in a more rural part of the state.

I would prefer that there was just a renewal fee for follow up renewals instead of the same dollars from the initial purchase. Maybe that varies from county to county. I don’t know but since you must purchase/renew in county of residence I have not checked into it further.

The others have pretty much covered it. Take your 8 hour waste of life class to get a certificate and apply for your concealed carry permit immediately. I opened carried for a while before getting mine. You have to let an officer know if you are carrying when pulled over. You have to keep your license and permit on you, regardless if you are carrying or not. Other than that, we are pretty open. What part of the state are you looking at? I'm in Charlotte.

Always consider heading west to Shelby for some great bbq at Bridges. I hope they are still in business.

Speaking of informing an LEO... I have to tell a fun story:

I was headed to Charlotte a few years ago from Asheville and had to cut through Hickory N.C. got kind of lost and was trying to find the main road and ended up going through a residential area headed down hill and around a curve at about 55... was probably a 35mph zone and there is a sheriffs car on the side of the road zapping me... so after going by and seeing the lights I immediately pulled over.... When the deputy walked up to my window I handed him my S.C. Drivers License and Concealed Weapons Permit... he informed me that in N.C. I was supposed to verbally tell him I had a gun and where it was before he got to the window (I won't get into how stupid and potentially dangerous that is) before thinking... (I'm good at this) I said to him that I could not do that.... he asked why and my answer was I did not actually know how many guns I had in the vehicle and where they all were.... his answer was "okay".... I got a warning and directions on how to get back to the main road.

The Charlotte area is referred to as "The Great State of Mecklenburg." The rest of the state does not claim Charlotte as part of the state. It is extremely liberal and more like New York than NC. This is due to it being a financial center, with many of the "movers and shakers" being NY transplants.

Charlotte is also on the SC line which is also gun friendly.

I don't think anyone touched on this but the shotgun might need to be unloaded while transporting.

Where are you moving from? Relocating from the North requires a significant adjustment in terms of attitude and life style.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Where are you moving from? Relocating from the North requires a significant adjustment in terms of attitude and life style.

And nobody wants to know how you did things where you left!

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Where are you moving from? Relocating from the North requires a significant adjustment in terms of attitude and life style.

It is my Son. He is from the Cincy area, but spent the last year in Nashville, finishing his education, four years prior he was in Tuscaloosa at the University of Alabama.

Technically, his permanent residence was Cincy, fro the time he was born.

quote:

It is my Son. He is from the Cincy area, but spent the last year in Nashville, finishing his education, four years prior he was in Tuscaloosa at the University of Alabama.

^^^^^^^^^^^
I am very familiar with all the areas. Culturally there should be no appreciable difference. Nashville and Charlotte are very similar. I have family in all of those places,except for Tuscaloosa.

Nascar is bigger in Charlotte as you might expect. Nashville and Charlotte have grown exponentially over the last thirty years.