HB 562: Now Isn't That Interesting?

Apparently the North Carolina Sheriff's Association generated a report on North Carolina's Jim Crow era Pistol Permit Program. They then shelved it because it didn't support their case. Grass Roots North Carolina obtained a copy of the report and have provided it for you edification. The actual report is linked on their website.

Some highlights from the NCSA report with most in sheriffs’ own words:

• “[NICS] reports included 165 or 23.5% of permits being subject to revocation in Camden County and 35,488 or 38% of permits being subject to revocation in Mecklenburg County.”
• “…sheriffs’ offices [submitted] 674,806 permits for review representing 344,338 different permit holders. CJLEADS returned 26,637 permits to sheriffs as subject to revocation due to an event or condition that occurred subsequent to the issuance of the permit that would have disqualified the individual from receiving a pistol purchase permit at application.” [That rate is about 4%, or four times higher than NICS, suggesting that the PPP system is *inferior* to NICS at preventing criminals from getting guns.]
• “Sheriffs have reported revoking 5,255 permits from 2,447 permittees as a result of the background check and review process through April 25, 2014. However, it should be noted that a sheriff has no way of knowing if a permit has been used since issuance.” [Translation: Perhaps only ¼ of 26,637 invalid permits were “revoked,” leaving potentially 22,000+ criminals in possession of permits and able to bypass background checks.]
• “Sheriffs’ offices are staffed to review and process Pistol Purchase Permit applications and not to conduct periodic reviews of active permits…”
• “Conducting an ongoing manual case by case review of 289 permits in Tyrrell County or 93,486 permits in Mecklenburg County is nearly impossible.” [So much for NCSA’s argument that sheriffs “know” who in their counties should have permits. If they can’t manually check them now, how can they do so before issuance?]
• “Several sheriffs’ offices had over 40% of their permits reported subject to revocation in the NICS report.”
• “Sheriffs’ offices cannot account for permits claimed to be ‘lost’…”
• “Gun dealers do not know if a permit has been revoked…”

Call or email your Reps.