I noticed that I did set off the alarm in a certain store's entrance, but since I was on my way in, noone said anything then or when I left. At this store, I did not notice a sign, but then again, I was really not looking for one. Should I be consciously looking for the sign or do most just carry until someone points it out.
I suppose it depends on North Carolina law, the possible penalty for violating it, and how much risk you're willing to bear. The link posted by someone else above is to a general summary from the Attorney General in 2007. It says that among the places you may not carry is:
d. Any premises where the carrying of a concealed handgun is prohibited by the posting of a statement by the controller of the premises;
That statement seems clear to me, but of course there's no way for mere words to stop anyone from doing what he feels like doing. People do such things all the time. When people we don't like choose to violate a law we call them "lawbreakers" and sometimes even "ciminals." But when people with Concealed Weapons Permits do it they call themselves "patriots," "Second Amendment advocates," and other nice sounding terms. So I guess it all depends on the laws you choose to violate, your point of view, and whether the judge shares that point of view.
It will be interesting to see what happens to Elliot Spitzer, the current Governor of New York State, who undoubtedly had good reasons for violating at least a few laws he found inconvenient and, besides, nobody was watching him anyway.
I'm still curious about why such things weren't covered in the required North Carolina CWP course. I'm also curious about why anyone bothers to get a concealed weapons permit who doesn't intend to comply with the laws governing that permit. After all, "concealed is concealed." If you conceal that gun well enough so nobody ever
knows you have it on you, nobody will ever know you don't have a permit. Then there's no need to be concerned about those signs, which only matter to stuffy law abiding people anyway.
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