03/28/2024
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Bladen County Sheriff's Department  Several changes in state law for obtaining a pistol purchase permit went into effect Tuesday, Dec. 1. Part of the change is the way sheriff’s evaluate and process the permits.

Bladen County Sheriff James McVicker says his office is implementing the changes while trying to minimize inconvenience to applicants. However, McVicker says, there are some additional steps in obtaining a pistol purchase permit.

Among the new requirements are:

** A uniform application for a pistol purchase permit and a uniform pistol purchase permit certificate must be used. Permits issued before Dec. 1 remain valid until their expiration date. Anyone with such a permit can exchange it for an updated permit from the Sheriff’s Office with no further application required. Any permit issued in exchange will expire on the same date as the original permit.

** For purposes of determining an applicant’s good moral character to receive a pistol purchase permit, the sheriff is only able to consider an applicant’s conduct and criminal history for the five year period immediately preceding the date of the application. If a crime or condition occurred prior to this five-year period, the sheriff must consider it if the crime or condition is independently disqualifies a person for a pistol purchase permit. For example, a felony conviction or involuntary commitment.

** If a pistol purchase permit is denied and the applicant wants to appeal that decision, the denied applicant has to take the appeal to the superior court, as opposed to district court as was previously required.

** The law requires all applicants for a pistol purchase permit to submit the following items: permit application, $5 for each permit requested, a government-issued identification, proof of residency, and a signed release that authorizes and requires any entity that has court orders concerning the mental health or capacity of the applicant to be disclosed to the sheriff.

For questions or more information, contact Sonya Heustess at the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office at (910) 862-6960.

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