N.C. Right-to-Carry gets boost from Legislature and Governor

More good news on the self-defense front. North Carolina now has a new law in effect which stops slow-moving local sheriff's departments from depriving concealed-carry permit holders of rights.

Until this new law, if you applied for renewal of your carry permit and it expired before the local sheriff's office got its paperwork done, sorry Jack, you gotta go through the whole process again, take the state-law class, reapply as if you haven't already been a lawful carry citizen. No more.

The NRA-ILA reports the good news.

On Friday, July 17, Governor Bev Perdue (D) signed the Right-to-Carry permit renewal improvement bill into law (House Bill 1132).

HB 1132 will now ensure that if a Right-to-Carry permit holder applies to his or her sheriff for renewal of a permit within 90 days of the permit's expiration, and the renewal application is not approved or denied by the expiration date, the permit will remain valid until the renewal decision is final. HB 1132 will also require sheriffs to notify permittees when their permits are about to expire. Finally, should a permittee fail to apply to renew a permit before the expiration date, the permittee may apply within 60 days following the expiration of the permit, and ask the sheriff to waive the requirement of taking another firearm safety training course.

My permit doesn't expire for two more years, but I'm glad I won't have to worry about it running out. Bravo, state legislators and Gov. Perdue!