FILED SENATE
May 2, 2024
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
S.B. 849
SESSION 2023 PRINCIPAL CLERK
S D
SENATE BILL DRS15426-MLf-146
Short Title: Increase Safe Use of Firearms. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Batch, Garrett, and Grafstein (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE OF AN EXTREME RISK PROTECTION
3 ORDER TO RESTRICT TEMPORARILY A PERSON'S ACCESS TO FIREARMS IF
4 THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT THE PERSON POSES A DANGER OF PHYSICAL HARM
5 TO SELF OR OTHERS, TO PROMOTE GUN SAFETY BY STRENGTHENING THE
6 LAW GOVERNING THE SAFE STORAGE OF FIREARMS, TO REQUIRE UNIVERSAL
7 BACKGROUND CHECKS, TO MAKE THE STATE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
8 RESPONSIBLE FOR PISTOL PURCHASE PERMITS, TO REINSTATE THE PERMIT
9 REQUIREMENT TO PURCHASE A PISTOL FOR PRIVATE SALES, AND TO EXEMPT
10 FIREARM SAFETY AND STORAGE ITEMS FROM THE SALES TAX.
11 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
12
13 PART I. REINSTATE THE PISTOL PURCHASE PERMIT REQUIREMENT TO
14 PURCHASE A PISTOL FOR PRIVATE SALES AND MAKE THE STATE BUREAU OF
15 INVESTIGATION RESPONSIBLE FOR PERMITS
16 SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 14-402 is reenacted as it existed immediately prior to its repeal
17 and reads as rewritten:
18 "§ 14-402. Sale of certain weapons without permit forbidden.
19 (a) It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation private person in this State to sell,
20 give away, or transfer, or to purchase or receive, at any place within this State from any other
21 place within or without the State any pistol from any other person other than a federally licensed
22 firearm dealer, unless: (i) a license or permit is first obtained under this Article by the purchaser
23 or receiver from the sheriff of the county in which the purchaser or receiver resides; State Bureau
24 of Investigation; or (ii) a valid North Carolina concealed handgun permit is held under Article
25 54B of this Chapter by the purchaser or receiver who must be a resident of the State at the time
26 of the purchase.
27 It is unlawful for any person or persons to receive from any postmaster, postal clerk,
28 employee in the parcel post department, rural mail carrier, express agent or employee, railroad
29 agent or employee within the State of North Carolina any pistol without having in his or their
30 possession and without exhibiting at the time of the delivery of the same and to the person
31 delivering the same the permit from the sheriff State Bureau of Investigation as provided in
32 G.S. 14-403. G.S. 14-403 or documentation demonstrating that the person is a federally licensed
33 firearm dealer. Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a Class 2
34 misdemeanor.
35 (b) This section does not apply to an antique firearm or an historic edged weapon.
36 (c) The following definitions apply in this Article:
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 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2023
1 (1) Antique firearm. – Defined in G.S. 14-409.11.
2 (2), (3) Repealed by Session Laws 2011-56, s. 1, effective April 28, 2011.
3 (4) Historic edged weapon. – Defined in G.S. 14-409.12.
4 (5) through (7) Repealed by Session Laws 2011-56, s. 1, effective April 28, 2011.
5 (8) Private person. – A person, firm, or corporation who is not a federally licensed
6 firearm dealer acting in accordance with federal law.
7 (9) Federally licensed firearm dealer. – A person who is licensed pursuant to 18
8 U.S.C. § 923 to engage in the business of dealing in firearms."
9 SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 14-403 is reenacted as it existed immediately prior to its repeal
10 and reads as rewritten:
11 "§ 14-403. Permit issued by sheriff; the State Bureau of Investigation; form of permit;
12 expiration of permit.
13 The sheriffs of any and all counties of this State Bureau of Investigation shall issue to any
14 person, firm, or corporation private person in any county a permit to purchase or receive any
15 weapon mentioned in this Article from any person, firm, or corporation private person offering
16 to sell or dispose of the weapon. The permit shall expire five years from the date of issuance. The
17 permit shall be a standard form created by the State Bureau of Investigation in consultation with
18 the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association, Investigation, shall be of a uniform size and material,
19 and shall be designed with security features intended to minimize the ability to counterfeit or
20 replicate the permit and shall be set forth as follows:
21 North Carolina,
22 ________ County.
23 I, ________, Sheriff of said County, agent of the State Bureau of Investigation, do hereby
24 certify that I have conducted a criminal background check of the applicant, ________ whose
25 place of residence is ________ in ________ (or) in ________ Township, ________ County,
26 North Carolina, and have received no information to indicate that it would be a violation of State
27 or federal law for the applicant to purchase, transfer, receive, or possess a handgun. The applicant
28 has further satisfied me as to his, her (or) their good moral character. Therefore, a permit is issued
29 to ________ to purchase one pistol from any person, firm or corporation private person
30 authorized to dispose of the same.
31 This permit expires five years from its date of issuance.
32 This __ day of ______, ____.
33 ___________________________________
34 Sheriff.Agent of the SBI.
35 The standard permit created by this section shall be used statewide by the sheriffs of any and
36 all counties and, when issued by a sheriff, issued, shall also contain an embossed seal unique to
37 the office of the issuing sheriff."
38 SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 14-404 is reenacted as it existed immediately prior to its repeal
39 and reads as rewritten:
40 "§ 14-404. Issuance or refusal of permit; appeal from refusal; grounds for refusal; sheriff's
41 State Bureau of Investigation's fee.
42 (a) Upon application, and such application must be provided by the sheriff State Bureau
43 of Investigation electronically, the sheriff State Bureau of Investigation shall issue the permit to
44 a resident of that county, unless the purpose of the permit is for collecting, in which case a sheriff
45 the State Bureau of Investigation can issue a permit to a nonresident, when the sheriff State
46 Bureau of Investigation has done all of the following:
47 (1) Verified, before the issuance of a permit, by a criminal history background
48 investigation that it is not a violation of State or federal law for the applicant
49 to purchase, transfer, receive, or possess a handgun. The sheriff State Bureau
50 of Investigation shall determine the criminal and background history of any
51 applicant by accessing computerized criminal history records as maintained
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1 by the State Bureau of Investigation it and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
2 by conducting a national criminal history records check, by conducting a
3 check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System
4 (NICS), and by conducting a criminal history check through the
5 Administrative Office of the Courts.
6 (2) Fully satisfied himself or herself itself by affidavits, oral evidence, or
7 otherwise, as to the good moral character of the applicant. For purposes of
8 determining an applicant's good moral character to receive a permit, the sheriff
9 State Bureau of Investigation shall only consider an applicant's conduct and
10 criminal history for the five-year period immediately preceding the date of the
11 application.
12 (3) Fully satisfied himself or herself that the applicant desires the possession of
13 the weapon mentioned for (i) the protection of the home, business, person,
14 family or property, (ii) target shooting, (iii) collecting, or (iv) hunting.
15 (b) If the sheriff State Bureau of Investigation is not fully satisfied, the sheriff State
16 Bureau of Investigation may, for good cause shown, decline to issue the permit and shall provide
17 to the applicant within seven days of the refusal a written statement of the reason(s) for the
18 refusal. The statement shall cite the specific facts upon which the sheriff State Bureau of
19 Investigation concluded that the applicant was not qualified for the issuance of a permit and list,
20 by statute number, the applicable law upon which the denial is based. An appeal from the refusal
21 shall lie by way of petition to the superior court in the district in which the application was filed.
22 The determination by the court, on appeal, shall be upon the facts, the law, and the reasonableness
23 of the sheriff's State Bureau of Investigation's refusal, and shall be final.
24 (b1) The sheriff State Bureau of Investigation shall keep a list of all permit denials, with
25 the specific reasons for the denials noted. The list shall not include any information that would
26 identify the applicant whose application was denied. The list, as described in this subsection,
27 shall be a public record, and the sheriff State Bureau of Investigation shall make the list available
28 upon request to any member of the public. The list shall be organized by the quarters of the year,
29 showing the number of denials and the reasons in each three-month period, and the list shall only
30 be released for past, completed quarters.
31 …
32 (e) The sheriff State Bureau of Investigation shall charge for the sheriff's its services upon
33 receipt of an application a fee of five dollars ($5.00) for each permit requested. There shall be no
34 limit as to the number or frequency of permit applications and no other costs or fees other than
35 provided in this subsection shall be charged for the permit, including, but not limited to, any costs
36 for investigation, processing, or medical background checks by the sheriff State Bureau of
37 Investigation or others providing records to the sheriff.State Bureau of Investigation.
38 (e1) The application for a permit shall be on a form created by the State Bureau of
39 Investigation in consultation with the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association. Investigation. This
40 application shall be used by all sheriffs statewide and must be provided by the sheriff both
41 electronically and in paper form. Only the following shall be required to be submitted by an
42 applicant for a permit:
43 (1) The permit application developed pursuant to this subsection.
44 (2) Five dollars for each permit requested pursuant to subsection (e) of this
45 section.
46 (3) A government issued identification confirming the identity of the applicant.
47 (4) Proof of residency.
48 (5) A signed release, in a form to be prescribed by the Administrative Office of
49 the Court, that authorizes and requires disclosure to the sheriff State Bureau
50 of Investigation of any court orders concerning the mental health or capacity
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1 of the applicant to be used for the sole purpose of determining whether the
2 applicant is disqualified to receive a permit pursuant to this section.
3 No additional document or evidence shall be required from any applicant.
4 (f) Each applicant for a license or permit shall be informed by the sheriff State Bureau
5 of Investigation within 14 days of the date of the application whether the license or permit will
6 be granted or denied and, if granted, the license or permit shall be immediately issued to the
7 applicant.
8 …
9 (h) The sheriff State Bureau of Investigation shall revoke any permit upon the occurrence
10 of any event or condition subsequent to the issuance of the permit, or the applicant's subsequent
11 inability to meet a requirement under this Article, which would have resulted in a denial of the
12 application submitted to obtain the permit if the event, condition, or the applicant's current
13 inability to meet a statutory requirement had existed at the time of the application and prior to
14 the issuance of the permit. The following procedures apply to a revocation:
15 (1) The sheriff State Bureau of Investigation shall provide written notice to the
16 permittee, pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 1A-1, Rule 4(j), that the permit
17 is revoked upon the service of the notice. The notice shall provide the
18 permittee with information on the process to appeal the revocation.
19 (2) Upon receipt of the written notice of revocation, the permittee shall surrender
20 the permit to the sheriff. State Bureau of Investigation. Any law enforcement
21 officer serving the notice is authorized to take immediate possession of the
22 permit from the permittee. If the notice is served by means other than by a law
23 enforcement officer, the permittee shall surrender the permit to the sheriff
24 State Bureau of Investigation no later than 48 hours after service of the notice.
25 (3) The sheriff State Bureau of Investigation shall insure that the list of permits
26 which have been revoked is immediately updated so that any potential
27 transferor calling to check the validity of the permit will be informed of the
28 revocation.
29 (4) A permittee may appeal the revocation of a permit pursuant to this subsection
30 by petitioning a district court judge of the district in which the permittee
31 resides.
32 (5) Any person who willfully fails to surrender a permit upon notice of revocation
33 shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
34 (i) A person or entity shall promptly disclose to the sheriff, State Bureau of Investigation,
35 upon presentation by the applicant or sheriff State Bureau of Investigation of an original or
36 photocopied release form described in subdivision (5) of subsection (e1) of this section, any court
37 orders concerning the mental health or capacity of the applicant who signed the release form."
38 SECTION 1.(d) G.S. 14-405 is reenacted as it existed immediately prior to its repeal
39 and reads as rewritten:
40 "§ 14-405. Record of permits kept by sheriff; State Bureau of Investigation; confidentiality
41 of permit information.
42 (a) The sheriff State Bureau of Investigation shall keep a record of all permits issued
43 under this article, including the name, date, place of residence, age, former place of residence,
44 etc., of each such person, firm, or corporation private person to whom or which a permit is issued.
45 The record shall include the date that a permit was revoked, the date that the permittee received
46 notice of the revocation, whether the permit was surrendered, and the reason for the revocation.
47 (b) The records maintained by the sheriff State Bureau of Investigation pursuant to this
48 section are confidential and are not a public record under G.S. 132-1; provided, however, that the
49 sheriff State Bureau of Investigation shall make the records available upon request to any federal,
50 State, and local law enforcement agencies and shall also make the records available to the court
51 if the records are required to be released pursuant to a court order. Any application to a court for
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1 release of the list of permit holders and permit application information shall be by a petition to
2 the chief judge of the district court for the district in which the person seeking the information
3 resides."
4 SECTION 1.(e) G.S. 14-407.1 is reenacted as it existed immediately prior to its
5 repeal and reads as rewritten:
6 "§ 14-407.1. Sale of blank cartridge pistols.
7 The provisions of G.S. 14-402, 14-405, and 14-406 shall apply to the sale of pistols suitable
8 for firing blank cartridges. The sheriffs of all the counties of this State are Bureau of Investigation
9 is authorized and may in their discretion issue to any person, firm or corporation, private person,