for living in NC less than six months (after moving back to take a new job), even though I was born here, was 33 without even a single speeding ticket, and state law *doesn't* require you to be a resident of NC for any length of time before you can buy a gun. It was just a personal quirk of the sheriff, but under the old law he could deny anyone for any reason (the original intent of the law being to deny based on skin color, without saying so) and he did. It was moot because I was applying for an NC carry license, which supersedes the purchase permit since the requirements are stricter, and the sheriff could *not* impose arbitrary restrictions on a CHL.
Also, keep in mind that the NC legislature hasn't always been very pro-gun, even though the people certainly are (and increasingly vote the issue). As late as the 1990s, the Brady Campaign ranked NC as having the 13th strictest gun control laws in the nation; until our carry law was finally reformed, it was easier to get a CHL in Massachusetts than here. Even now, it is a crime to even have an unloaded gun locked in your vehicle's glove compartment while traveling in NC, unless you have a CHL.
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