NC House Bill 650

The way I read it on the NRA site was that you still had to lock the weapon in the car at state parks. I admit it was just a quick read thru, but I sure hope you are right.

Since I live in NC, I've been following this. A local somewhat anti-gun rag newspaper, the Winston-Salem Journal, has been putting an anti-gun slant to their news articles. They use terms like "some say" blab, blab, blab to try and scare people. I've tried to put up what concealed carry is all on their editorial page but haven't made it past the editors. They did, to give them a little bit of credit, put a few pro letters in their editorial page of a limited nature from gun rights people but the vast majority have been from reporters who imply shoot-outs like on TV.

IIRC, there was a bill that changed the alcohol provision. There might have been another bill.

I wonder if they will ever get rid of that stupid "pistol permit" crap for buying a handgun?
It would certainly make me happier.

Get a CCW permit. You don't need an individual pistol permit to buy a handgun with one of these.

Nobody asked me, but if they did I would say if someone has a weapon in a restaurant serving booze the weapon holder MUST stick to sodas or coffee or the like. If someone is caught with a weapon on them, permitted or not, if they are drinking drop the jail on them. This is the kind of thing the Brady Bunch would love and would set back responsible ownership decades.

Another concern is permitting mental disease patients. I sympathize greatly with those who have a family member or with LE who have to deal with those with a mental disease like dementia or schizophrenia. To my knowledge, there is no background check in the permitting process for significant mental disease. Maybe some sort of psychiatrist sign off that a person is competent to have a concealed weapon, I don't know. My mom, now past, got real loopy as the years piled up. The pharmacist looked like a shoe salesman every time she came through the door. This was the era when patients were not happy unless they left the doctors office with a script. The grocery bag of meds didn't help her mental stability. Anyway, she could legally buy a pistol and bought a Ruger .22. After brandishing the thing around the neighborhood at stray dogs and a neighbor who was constantly tinkering with his drag race car, we as a family sneaked in a replaced it with a hammer. She had hammers everywhere after that. My point is there is not always a responsible family member to deal with pistol packin mammas. It is somewhat of an issue I'd like to see dealt with.

Does this mean we can now legally carry (with a permit) in the Pisgah National Forests? From my understanding the National Forests (not to be confused with Nat Park) are under the same rules in any given state as the State Forests.

MikeNice said:

In NC there is no carrying with any alcohol or illegal drug in your system. That is an very serious infraction. They also check your medical and mental health records before issuing a CCH permit. They ask thos supplying the records if their is any medical of mental condition that would make it dangerous for you to own a gun.

If you have ever been ajudicated mentally incompetent and that judgement still stands it is a violation of federal law for you to own a gun.

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I'm glad to get feedback about the mental thing but how can they check medical and mental health records? As of yet, there isn't a computerized system for medical records. Doctors are only now beginning to computerize charts and their programs are all different. NC has only recently been able to monitor prescriptions of controlled substances (opiates and benzos mostly) but not anti-psychotics.

We went through the mentally incompetent thing, or at least tried to. It is very, very hard to get the legal system to do this. Practically impossible on a long term basis as it requires a mandatory periodic review.

I suppose those who want to carry illegally will do so. Part of the reason to carry is for protection against those who do so illegally. Laws can only go so far in creating rules. At some point, we must be our brothers keeper and step in an keep weapons out of the hands of family and friends who may be mentally incapable. Get them a hammer.

MikeNice said:

Any one that has been ajudicated mentally deficient or committed to a state run mental facility is actually in a database. For other mental and medical records they send a request to all hospitals in the metro area. Plus they can send request to hospitals in areas where you lived previously.

Not all medical records are available through a computer search. So, they still do the old paper request. NC is pretty thurough when it comes to CCH. For a regular permit they only check the state databases though, I believe.

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I think we are talking about different levels of mental illness. I'm not talking about those like Michael Hayes or someone in an obvious catatonic state but your typical schizophrenic. These are the people who are perfectly capable of functioning in society as long as they are taking their meds. Trouble with them is that they don't always take their meds. To them, the voices they hear and the delusions are real, as are the medication side effects. Depending on their family support structure, they may never have been adjucated. Sometimes, family may have had to appear before a magistrate to get emergency mental care for a few days but they rarely stay over a week. A judge has to determine, if after 48 hours, they can be kept even a week. They even have a court ordered attorney defending their right to remain free.

Mental health resources in NC are practically nonexistent. A standard Blue Cross type policy only has about $2,000.00 a year coverage. Even Obama Care has no provisions for mental illness.

A neighbor and close friend had a son who had schizo-effective disorder and ate a 20 gauge. It could have just as easily been someone else, depending on where the voices say point the gun.

LE may have the authority to contact hospitals but I suspect they don't, unless they have major suspicions. HIPPA laws would probably require more than just a casual form. I'd love to hear a from an officer of the law on this matter.

I have a CCW permit myself. The privilege is a good thing. There are just areas that the gun community as a whole needs to be cognizant of and support policing those who may not be responsible for their own actions.