Abrupt change in plans, tell me about Raleigh NC and RKBA

[ZeSpectre]

The wife and I -were- definitely moving to the Shenandoah Valley area of VA.
NOW due to other simultaneous job offers we are looking at going to Raleigh, NC.

THR I'm calling on you for help. Is a stout supporter of RKBA from the "old dominion" going to be happy in NC or am I going to go out of my mind?

Open carry?
CCW?
General attitude of the population towards firearms owners?

I'd be happy to PM my phone number to anyone who actually lives in/around Raleigh so I can talk to them about the area.

Thanks for any help.

Ze

 

[Smurfslayer]

How tolerant are you?

NC permit is good next to nowhere, but it is shall issue. I believe you need a permit to purchase; confirm w/ PDO... Class 3 is a bit more restrictive than VA, with a series of barriers and it is illegal to have them for 'investments, collecting, etc.'. OC is reported as legal, but check opencarry.org for reports.

 

[drizzico]

Well, welcome to the State. NC is a shall issue state. Our legislature just defeated a bill that would have required us to report missing and stolen weapons with 48hrs of when we should have known they were missing. Not when we actually found them missing. NC has yet to pass a Castle doctrine law yet by that might happen soon. (I hope.)

Right now you can only use deadly force to stop someone if they are in the act of breaking in. If they are already in the house and have your TV in their arms and don't threaten you then all you can do is ask them to put it down and leave or help them out with it. You also cannot take a weapon into an establishment where alcohol is served. (Although I had heard that at least one legislator has proposed allowing CCW in any restaurant even if alcohol is served. Which would mean all bars because 51% of sales at an establishment that sells liquor by the drink has to come from non alcohol sales.)

There are other idiosyncrasies in our carry but for the most part they are reasonable I would highly recommend a course as soon as possible after moving here. In Raleigh I would recommend going to the Personal Defense & Handgun Safety Center their website is http://www.pdhsc.com/ They are great people there and sponsor and indoor IDPA match on the 2nd Saturday of the month It is held in the evenings and they are very creative in then scenarios given the limited space. You will also be within an hour of Oxford NC where 'The Range' is located. It is the home of the Carolina Cup IDPA match (One of the three largest matches held each year.) (Frank also holds a club match on the 2nd Sunday of the month so you can get in a lot of range time.) It will be held there a week from tomorrow. If you shoot IDPA I will hope to see you at a match when you move here. I don't get to Raleigh enough (I live 3hrs away in Alexander county) But I get to shoot match on the First Saturday of the month in Wilkes county and third of the month in Watuga County. Watuga's range is 15 to 20 minutes from the Blue Ridge parkway.

Take Care

Dave

P.S

You do need a five dollar permit to purchase a handgun from your sheriff IF you do not have a CCW and you can get a class three if you want one. I know of several individual who have them for collecting and competitions.

 

[ZeSpectre]

So if I already have a training certificate and a Virginia CHL permit does that mean I start from scratch getting a NC CHL or does my NRA training cert still have authority in NC? Anybody know?

 

[drizzico]

You will probably have to take the NC course to get the permit. According to PACKING.ORG (http://www.packing.org/state/north_carolina/) The required documents are:

* ID: (State Drivers License)
* Training Certificate: The applicant MUST attend the NC approved course offered by NC certified instructors.
* NO NRA COURSE qualifies: Instructors of the NC CCH course can submit a NRA training syllabus for their course model but no CCH applicant can submit an NRA course certificate in lieu of a NC CCH course certificate for the application process.
* Applicants must re-attend one of the State CCH courses if permit has expired before renewal.
* State law says: "The applicant has successfully completed an approved firearms safety and training course which involves the actual firing of handguns and instruction in the laws of this State governing the carrying of a concealed handgun and the use of deadly force."

If this is correct it imply that you would need the refresher just so that they can be sure that you are aware of NC law.

I looked at the NC Attorney generals web site to see if it said anything about transferring the permit (it didn't mention anything but reciprocity) so here is the address of his contact us page maybe you can write him an email and get an answer from him.

http://www.ncdoj.com/default_contactus_form.jsp?sectionid=ag&subsectionid=general

Dave

 

[KMKeller]

You have to start from scratch. Give me a yell if you want to talk, I'm a NC CCH Instructor. Contact info inbound via PM.

Kirk

 

[ZeSpectre]

Thanks guys.
KMKeller, I will be in touch.

 

[stevemis]

Personally, I'd save the trouble. According to the NC DOJ, we recognize VA permits... even non-resident permits.

So, your VA permit should work fine here. Virginia law might require you to switch to a non-resident permit after you leave the state, though.

Either way, you should become familiar with NC's use of force laws if you'll be carrying here.

Raleigh is a pretty decent place to live... Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any questions about the area. I'm in the quiet suburbs north of Raleigh, up the street from Falls Lake.

Steve

 

[tinygnat219]

Ze,

I can hook you up with an instructor. I have an Uncle who does firearms training. NC is ok, but with more restrictions on where you can and can't carry. Don't know about Open Carry, but it's a fine state with a robust economy.

 

[30 cal slob]

My bro lives in Cary (consolidated area for relocated yankees).

Place looks like freakin' New Jersey with the population and development growing so fast. Then again, a LOT of people there are from NY/NYC. lol.

Anyhoo, I look at VA and NC and on balance, either is going to be better than, say, NJ or NY or CA or IL or WI or MA. Which, for you, isn't saying much.

But between VA and NC, I think VA>NC in terms of overall RKBA. The NC CCW compared to my own home state in the commi-lib northeast SUCKS with all of its silly off-limits places.

Note that open carry is PROHIBITED in certain municipalities, so if you're used to proudly OC'ing in VA with state pre-emption, you're going to be disappointed.

Having said that, the red drum fishing is better in NC than it is in VA.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Well, thanks for all the info and thanks to all the people who PM'd me...

But my wife decided she wants the job in Staunton so we're back to staying in Virginia. :banghead:

What's that about a woman's perogative?!?

s'okay with me, I really like the Shenandoah valley and was quite looking forward to moving there.

 

[Waitone]

If I were in your position I'd stay with Staunton.

NC open carry---really stupid move since the laws are soooooooo ambigious.
NC CCH---about like other states
NC CCH class---smart move. NC is preoccupied with making sure you understand the law (as much as I have a few bones to pick with NC, that ain't one of them).
Raleigh is to NC as Berkley is to California--Generally a sorta kinda conservative state but Raleigh ain't it. Raleigh area is host to UNC Chapel Hill, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest and a platoon of militant blissninnies.

Follow your wife on this one.

 

[BB62]

Check out www.opencarry.org for OC info and forums.


BB62

 

[VARifleman]

I agree with 30 cal snob on it. The area isn't bad, but since I like to open carry, and carry in resturants, I like VA a lot more. Your better half made the right choice by choosing to stay in VA.

 

[fletcher]

NC is fairly good with respect to firearms laws. Not the best, but pretty good.


Open carry?
- Open carry is not prohibited by the state, but local governments can prohibit it. Also subject to "going armed to the terror of the people" or somesuch. Don't expect to open carry anywhere but remote areas.

CCW?
- Requires a class and ~$80-100 (varies slightly by county) for application and fingerprints. Got my permit one month from application date - good for five years. Can't carry in establishments that serve alcohol, anywhere that you pay admission to enter, schools, government/public buildings, etc.

General attitude of the population towards firearms owners?
- Depends on where you live. I've never had any problems myself aside from anti keyboard commandos on local forums, never in public. The Raleigh area overall is accepting, if not friendly, of/to firearms.



Also, full auto and suppressors are not prohibited.