NC Resident Carrying under VA permit?

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I have a valid VA Permit - lived there for 2 years and moved here.

I have had conflicting information regarding the ability to carry concealed using my VA permit. Some local police have said that I am legal due to the fact that the VA permit is valid. Others have said that if I am a resident of NC I need an NC permit.

Does anyone have a solid answer? I am taking the class this coming weekend but I would like to have get an answer since I have had different LE organizations tell me different things.



I have not found anything in the General Statute that specifies you need a NC permit if you are an NC resident.



Thanks in advance

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You may, but as I posted in another thread:

I would recommend getting a NC CHP now. It is valid in more states and allows you to purchase handguns in North Carolina without obtaining a purchase permit from your county sheriff. You will probably have to go through the same process as a first-time applicant.

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South Carolina and West Virginia are among the states that no longer recognize your VA CHP since you are no longer a VA resident.

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Have you gotten a new DL yet?
Your CHP should always match your DL.

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thanks for the info guys. I am getting the NC CHP - taking the class this weekend and filing the paperwork the monday afterward.



But good to know I can carry using my VA until my NC comes in.



On aside note - my CHP's never matched my DL because I was active Army for 6 years.

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There is no requirement in the law that an NC resident must have an NC permit to carry in NC.

So long as you update your VA permit to be a non-resident permit (i.e. it has your NC address on it) you should be fine.

Having said that, there are a number of LEOs out there who will say you are not legal because of how the Attorney General's website discusses the issue.

As of August 14, 2003, North Carolina law allows residents of other states who have a Concealed Handgun Permit issued by their state to carry concealed handguns in North Carolina if the person's state also grants the same privilege to North Carolinians. Click here for more information on reciprocity agreements with other states.

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However, the even the AG's pamphlet on firearms laws does not include the phrase "residents of other states", it refers to "out of state concealed handgun permittees."

Most importantly though, is the statutes themselves, which have no requirement that an NC resident can only carry under an NC permit.

The statutes says (and I paraphrase), to carry concealed you must either hold an NC permit, or a permit from a state recognized for reciprocity (which VA is).

Further, NC makes no distinction in its reciprocity laws between resident and non-resident permits.

§ 14‑269. Carrying concealed weapons.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person willfully and intentionally to carry concealed about his person any bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slung shot, loaded cane, metallic knuckles, razor, shurikin, stun gun, or other deadly weapon of like kind, except when the person is on the person's own premises.

(a1) It shall be unlawful for any person willfully and intentionally to carry concealed about his person any pistol or gun except in the following circumstances:

(1) The person is on the person's own premises.

(2) The deadly weapon is a handgun, and the person has a concealed handgun permit issued in accordance with Article 54B of this Chapter or considered valid under G.S. 14‑415.24.

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§ 14‑415.24. Reciprocity; out‑of‑state handgun permits. (a) A valid concealed handgun permit or license issued by another state is valid in North Carolina if that state grants the same right to residents of North Carolina who have valid concealed handgun permits issued pursuant to this Article in their possession while carrying concealed weapons in that state.

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For more anecdotal evidence, a buddy of mine is a cop in NC, who was telling me about a man in his town who carries on a Florida non-resident permit, who causes a lot of problems and they have contacted the Ag's office about trying to charge him with illegally carrying a handgun since he is on an out-of-state non-resident permit and have been told they cannot touch him for that.



Hope it helps

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JDriver1.8t wrote:

Have you gotten a new DL yet?
Your CHP should always match your DL.

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Why? Mine does not. Many people carry on out of state CHPs or drive on out of state DLs. I know of no state requiring an in state DL to carry.

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I was told by a Deputy Sherrif (I know that there is no legal documentation on this) that the CHP should match the DL as there is no picture or watermarks to verify legality/ ownership on the CHP.

Seemed like good sense. Also I did not say that it had to be a IN state DL, just that the CHP should match the DL. I was questioning if the OP had updated one and not the other.

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JDriver1.8t wrote:

I was told by a Deputy Sherrif (I know that there is no legal documentation on this) that the CHP should match the DL as there is no picture or watermarks to verify legality/ ownership on the CHP.

Seemed like good sense. Also I did not say that it had to be a IN state DL, just that the CHP should match the DL. I was questioning if the OP had updated one and not the other.

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That may hold true for NC permits, but both my Virginia and Florida (non-resident) permits, have not only my photo, but my NC address.


Additionally, my Florida permit is the same as a Florida DL (watermakrs, etc.)

Having said that, to comply with NC law, you must have both your permit and a photo ID on your person while carrying concealed and for the puirposes of NC law, your permit (with or without photo) does not qualify as the photo ID.

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Thnaks for all the great responses guys. I did confirm this morning from the NC AG office that you can carry in NC as a NC resident with an out of state permit as long as that permit is still valid.

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Many thanks to you and to others who have contributed to this thread. I am in similar situation where I'd like to be able to carry in NC with a valid FL permit that has reciprocity with NC.

I am a Lawful Permanent Resident (Green Card holder). Unfortunately, NC is the only state to my knowledge that does not allow Permanent Residents to get a CCW.

I have been living in the US for 11 years now, and still have to wait another 4 years before I can naturalize.

One solution I could find is to get an out of state permit with FL that would be valid in NC.

Please let me know if anyone has any comments or advice. Thank you.

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apatel_17 wrote:

I am a Lawful Permanent Resident (Green Card holder). Unfortunately, NC is the only state to my knowledge that does not allow Permanent Residents to get a CCW.

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North Carolina is not the only state that is unconstitutionally discriminating against legal permanent residents by requiring a person to be a citizen to get a CHP. You should get a lawyer and file a Section 1983 (42 U.S.C. § 1983) action in federal court to get a court order requiring North Carolina to issue you a CHP if you are otherwise qualified. When you win, 42 U.S.C. § 1988 requires the court to order the defendants to pay your legal feees. There was a similar case in Kentucky a couple of years ago.

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WVCDL wrote

North Carolina is not the only state that is unconstitutionally discriminating against legal permanent residents by requiring a person to be a citizen to get a CHP. You should get a lawyer and file a Section 1983 (42 U.S.C. § 1983) action in federal court to get a court order requiring North Carolina to issue you a CHP if you are otherwise qualified. When you win, 42 U.S.C. § 1988 requires the court to order the defendants to pay your legal feees. There was a similar case in Kentucky a couple of years ago.

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Thank you for the advice. Appreciate it. I do believe NC is illegally discriminating against lawful permanent residents. Appreciate your pointer to the federal law. However, looks like the path of least resistance is getting a FL permit that will be accepted in NC.

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Go ahead and get a Florida permit. However, do not let North Carolina off the hook. By not having a NC CHP, you do not get the benefit of reciprocity with states such as South Carolina and West Virginia that only recognize reciprocal states' permits issued to their own residents nor will you be exempt from getting a purchase permit to acquire a handgun. So, get a lawyer and hold North Carolina accoutable for its violation of your rights as a lawful permanent resident.

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As several have pointed out that a NC resident can carry in NC with a valid out of state permit. However you would need to verify that your VA permit is still valid. That would be the kicker. You said that you had it while in service and not living in VA but that may be different. In most states a resident permit is no longer valid when you become a permanent resident of a different state and normally military transfers are not considered permanent for this purpose.

You can probably convert it to a non-resident permit easily and then it will cover you in NC. As someone pointed out it will not cover you for SC or WV or some other states that only recognize resident permits.