has this happened to anyone else?

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I just got denied my PPP by the Hertford County Sheriff. The reason given was that I have not lived in the County long enough. Im a law biding citizen who only wishes to protect myself and my family and every thing that I have worked hard for. I have lived the majority of my life in Gates Counrty NC which is 10 minutes from Hertford County NC. I also used a Gates County sheriff deputy as a reference on my application. My father has lived in Hertford County all his life so I have spent time in Hertford County all my life. Has anyone else ever had this problem? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this? Any and all help is appreciated.

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This is one of the big problems for the whole HPP process. The state law has very limited requirements, but they leave a LOT of "wiggle room" for Sheriffs to tack on their own, more stringent (and often arbitrary) stipulations. In this situation, there is no length of residency requirement for the issuance of a HPP in the state law, but a Sheriff CAN put a LoR requirement on it...

Since you lived relatively locally, have family in the area, and a clean record, I imagine your denial of the permit has to do with some other arbitrary issue, like your age (are you young?) our appearance, or your race.

Here's a suggestion. Get your Concealed Handgun Permit. If you take the class and meet the legal requirements, he MUST issue you a CHP. If you have a CHP, you won't have to get a HPP to buy handguns, because a CHP exempts you from the HPP requirements...

And since NC is a "Shall Issue" state, if you meet the legal requirements, you can't be denied arbitrarily. And if you ARE, the Sheriff has to tell you why, and you can actually appeal to the state.

Good luck.

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Unless I'm mistaken, the law governing the issuance of pistol permits doesn't say you must have been a resident for a certain period of time. He can discriminate on just about every other basis, but as long as you are a resident of the county, he has no discretion. I'd recommend appealing the decision. If that fails, see if the Gates county deputy you used as a reference could pull some strings with his boss and get him to issue you a permit for "collecting" some handguns. Only your Sheriff can issue you a permit for target shooting, self defense or hunting. Any Sheriff can issue you a permit for "collecting."

Source: G.S. 14-404

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Actually, you can appeal a refused HPP application to the Chief District Court Judge in your county and district. According to State law, you need to be a resident of the county--there is no time limit defined for residency. If the rest o your application was in order, and you are not otherwise a prohibited person, and have officially established residency in that county, a judge will probably rule in your favor. But the court fees will probably be as much (or more than) getting a CHP...

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I would call the sheriff's office and ask to speak with the sheriff, not the person who handles permits, etc. Talk with the sheriff, get him/her to let you come by and talk in person. They are politicians, they don't like ruffling feathers of regular folks. This is what I had to do when I was getting a hard time on my first permit application years back. I did have to be somewhat persistent to get the sheriff to talk with me, lot's of people trying to screen you.

If that doesn't work, then you may want to appeal. Seems pretty clear-cut if you have no history.

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Good info above. You don't need a permit to purchase a long gun. If it's for home protection get a decent 12 ga shotgun in the meantime. Just a thought. All this is assuming you don't already have one.

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thanks for all your help guys. yea it prob is because I am young. I just turned 22 years old and moved out on my own with my girlfriend. I work nights sometimes and though it is a small farming town the way things are today you can never be too careful. Yes I do have a shotgun and a 7mm rifle in the house and a 22 pistol that was given to me buy my great grandmother sometime ago. However, the 22 is a snubnose and very inaccurate and the rifle and shotgun are alittle much to handle for my girlfriend. I havent made up my mind yet as to what im going to do. The situation just irritated me really bad.If laws such as this worked to actually keep guns outta the hands of the "bad guys" and criminals then I would have no problem with them denying me but the fact of the matter is that those are the people who seem to get them and its the ones like all of us who get the flack for it. I have never been arrested, dishonorably discharged, nor committed so I dont see where he is justified in this. Thanks again guys for all the help and I will keep you updated. This fourm has been very helpful to me in the past month to learn my rights and the laws. Keep up the good work.