PROCESS FOR NEW CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT

• Come in between 9-4– Monday-Friday and fill out a Concealed Carry application. Have exactly $90.00 in cash when you are applying for a carry-concealed.
• You will also fill out the Physical and Mental Health Release Form (which authorizes the disclosure to the sheriff of any record concerning the physical and mental health of the applicant).
• You must also have obtained your Gun Safety course certificate and bring it with you the day you come in and apply.
• The day you apply please allow 20-30 minutes for fingerprinting and application process.
• Please bring valid drivers license or picture identification.
• Please allow 5-6 weeks to process new concealed carry permits.

HANDGUN PURCHASE PERMITS

• Handgun purchase permits applications can be submitted to the Catawba County Sheriff’s office between the hours of 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM Monday through Friday.
  
• Please bring a valid picture identification (NC Drivers License or valid NC picture identification card. Please answer all questions as accurately as possible.
  
• Please allow up to a week or 5 working days for background check.
  
• Handgun Purchase Permits are $5.00 cash for each permit. Limit of 4 permits per application. (One per gun).
  
• You do not have to have the money up front for Handgun Purchase Permits. Money is collected when Handgun Permit is approved.

RENEWAL OF PERMIT TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS

• Come into the Sheriff’s office approximately 6 weeks before expiration date which appears on your card. If you fail to apply prior to your expiration date, you will have to re-take the handgun safety course!
• The cost of the renewal is $75.00. PLEASE BRING EXACTLY $75.00 CASH! This process usually takes five to six weeks. It is your responsibility to notify the Records Division of any name, address, or phone number changes that occur during the five years of your permit.
• The hours for renewal will be 9:00am until 4:00pm, Monday through Friday. No appointment is necessary. Please allow at least 20 minutes for renewal process. If for some reason you are unable to come in during these times, please call our office, and we will try to work out a mutually agreeable time for you.

DISQUALIFYING CRIMINAL OFFENSES

An individual who has been adjudicated guilty of or received a prayer for judgment continued or suspended sentence for offenses constituting a misdemeanor as listed below, or other crimes of violence, is disqualified from obtaining a permit to carry a concealed handgun:

• Harassment of and communication with jurors
• Violating orders of court
• Furnishing poison, controlled substances, deadly weapons, cartridges, ammunition or alcoholic beverages to inmates of charitable, mental or penal institutions or local confinement facilities
• Weapons on campus or other educational property
• Carrying weapons into assemblies and establishments where alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed.
• Weapons on state property and courthouses
• Possession and sale of spring-loaded projectile knives
• Impersonation of firearm, emergency medical services personnel
• Impersonation of law-enforcement or other public officers
• Communicating threats
• Weapons at parades and other public gatherings
• Stalking
• Throwing or dropping of objects at sporting events
• Exploding dynamite cartridges and bombs
• Riot and inciting to riot
• Fighting or conduct creating a threat of imminent fighting or other violence
• Making or using any utterance, gesture, display or abusive language which is intended and plainly likely to provoke violent retaliations and thereby create a breech of peace
• Looting and trespassing during emergency
• Assault on emergency personnel
• Violations of city State of Emergency Ordinances
• Violation of county State of Emergency Ordinances
• Violation of State of Emergency Ordinances
• Child Abuse
• Violations of the standards for carrying a concealed weapon
• Any crime of violence found in Article 8 of Chapter 14 in the North Carolina General Statutes. Example: Assault on Female, Simple Assault.

THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF CARRYING A CONCEALED HANDGUN

• Your permit to carry a concealed handgun must be carried along with valid identification whenever the handgun is being carried concealed.
• When approached or addressed by any officer, you must disclose the fact that you have a valid concealed handgun permit and in form the officer that you are in possession of a concealed handgun. You should not attempt to draw or display either your weapon or your permit to the officer unless and until he directs you to do so. Your hands are to be kept in plain view and you are not to make any sudden movements.
• At the request of any law enforcement officer, you must display both the permit and valid identification.
• You may not, with or without a permit, carry a concealed weapon while consuming alcohol or while alcohol or any controlled substances are in your blood unless the controlled substance was obtained legally and taken in therapeutically appropriate amounts.
• Even with a permit, you may not carry a concealed handgun in the following areas:
  • Any law enforcement or correctional facility
  • Any space occupied by state or federal employees
  • A financial institution
  • Any premises where the carrying of a concealed handgun is prohibited by the posting of a statement by the controller of the premises
  • Educational property
  • Areas of assemblies, parades, funerals, or demonstrations
  • Places where alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed.
  • State occupied property;
  • Any state or federal courthouse;
  • In any areas prohibited by federal law;
  • Any local government building if the local government had adopted an ordinance and posted signs prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons.
• If you are in a vehicle and stopped by a law enforcement officer, you should put both hands on the steering wheel, announce you are in possession of a concealed handgun and state where you have it concealed, and that you are in possession of permit. Do not remove your hands from the wheel until instructed to do so by the officer.

NORTH CAROLINA CONCEALED CARRY INSTRUCTORS

CVCC: (828)327-7037
Dan H. Tharpe (828)217-8424
David Jack Pruitt (828)638-6671
Gary Russell Burgess: (828)428-2420
J Mark London: (704)528-3619
Jack Edward Simons: (828)638-6671
James Jude Amelia: (828)757-5610
Jerry Thomas Simmons: (828)726-5201
Johnny Randolph Clark: (828)850-5150
John Harley Walker:(828)438-5585
John Robert Head: (828)874-2762
Kevin Marcine Ezell: (704)483-6723
Larry Dwight Willis: (704)462-1948
Paul Arthur Nelson: (828)455-5935
Randy Wayne Martin: (828)758-8425
Ben David Smith: (828)241-3075
Terry Gene Armstrong: (828)466-8664
Yates Alexander Cobb: (828)438-5500
Troy Mitchell Perry: (980)722-7386
This is a partial list, subject to change.