People eligible to carry handguns concealed can apply for permits in North Carolina. The details on how to apply for a concealed carry permit in Wake County are available here.
In North Carolina, the fact that you’re a concealed carry permit holder is a public record. More than 240,000 North Carolinians have applied for and been awarded concealed carry permits.
Unfortunately, North Carolina’s permit system is not perfect. The New York Times reports that approximately 2,400 (or about 1 percent) of the total number of permit holders had been convicted of a misdemeanor or a felony and yet had still received a permit. 200 of those 2,400 were prior convicted felons.
Felons in possession of firearms can be tried in both state and federal courts under the federal government’s Safe Nieghborhoods program. In state courts, a felon in possession of a gun can be tried as a Class G felon and receive up to three years (depending on his prior record level) for the mere fact that he was found in possession of a handgun.
In federal court, a person may be convicted and receive up to 10 years in prison if he is a felon who is found in possession of a gun. In addition, increasingly, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina has been prosecuting individuals who, after serving time in state prison for possessing a firearm, are released from custody.
This double prosecution – first in state court and then in federal court – does not violate the Constitution’s Double Jeopardy clause because different sovereigns can prosecute the same crime.
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