Can a person convicted of a felony in North Carolina ever obtain a handgun permit from the sheriff or clerk of court?
Plain-English summary
The New Hanover County Sheriff's Department asked the AG two related questions. Can a person convicted of any felony obtain a handgun permit under G.S. 14-404 or G.S. 14-409.3? And can a person convicted of a felony involving the use of a firearm obtain one under the same statutes plus G.S. 14-415.1?
The 1984 AG answered no to both, but with different paths to relief.
For the general felon, the path to a permit ran through federal law. The state statutes (G.S. 14-404 and G.S. 14-409.3) flatly prohibited issuance to anyone under indictment or convicted of a felony, except those pardoned. The Felony Firearms Act (G.S. 14-415.1) had a five-year disability for felons in possession. But the federal Gun Control Act provisions at 18 U.S.C. App. § 1201 imposed a permanent firearms disability on felons that was not lifted by the passage of five years. The federal disability could be relieved only by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), upon a showing that the applicant was not a danger to public safety and that relief would not be contrary to the public interest. So a felon needed both federal disability relief and satisfaction of the state sheriff or clerk that he met the state requirements.
For the felon whose underlying offense involved the use of a firearm, the federal Treasury-disability-relief path was closed. 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) expressly excluded crimes "involving the use of a firearm or other weapon" from the relief mechanism. The only path was a presidential or gubernatorial pardon that expressly authorized the possession of firearms. 18 U.S.C. App. § 1203(2) provided that an expressly worded pardon would lift the federal disability and allow the sheriff or clerk to consider the application on its merits.
The opinion noted that the five-year language in G.S. 14-415.1 was superseded by the federal statutes for federal purposes; the state could still administer its own permit law but had to honor the federal disability. It also withdrew "any prior opinion of this office relating to the right of a felon to bear arms which is in conflict herewith."
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1984. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here. North Carolina firearms law has been substantially revised, including replacement of much of the older permit framework with a concealed-handgun-permit regime under Chapter 14, Article 54B; the Felony Firearms Act has been amended and significantly expanded in scope; and federal firearms disability law has been further developed by both statute and Supreme Court decisions. The basic principle (a convicted felon is barred from firearms possession absent specific relief) survives, but the operative federal statutes have been renumbered (the old 18 U.S.C. App. § 1201/1202 series was repealed and replaced by 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)), and the funding for the Treasury relief mechanism has been suspended since 1992. A North Carolina lawyer should be consulted for any modern firearms-disability question.
Historical context: what the AG concluded
The 1984 opinion has three distinctive features worth flagging.
It treated the state and federal disabilities as cumulative. The state permit statute and the federal firearms-disability statute operated in parallel. The state sheriff or clerk was the gatekeeper for the state permit, and the federal statute was a separate constraint that the state issuer had to honor. A felon could not get the state permit without first satisfying both.
It treated firearms-use felonies as categorically different. The federal disability-relief mechanism under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) was a Treasury Department administrative procedure available to most felons. But Congress explicitly excluded crimes "involving the use of a firearm or other weapon" from that procedure. The 1984 AG translated that federal carve-out into a state-permit rule: only a presidential or gubernatorial pardon expressly authorizing firearms possession could overcome the federal disability for a firearms-use felon.
It withdrew prior contrary opinions. The closing line, withdrawing "any prior opinion of this office relating to the right of a felon to bear arms which is in conflict herewith," suggests this was a course-correction. Earlier AG advice may have read the state five-year limit (G.S. 14-415.1) as exhaustive; the 1984 opinion clarified that the federal disability is independent and longer-running.
Background and statutory framework
G.S. 14-404 governed sheriff-issued handgun permits in 1984. The sheriff was required to issue a permit to a county resident upon application unless the applicant fell within a short list of disqualifiers: under indictment or convicted of a felony (with a carve-out for antitrust, unfair trade practices, and restraints of trade); fugitive from justice; or an unlawful user of or addicted to marijuana or a depressant, stimulant, or narcotic drug under 21 U.S.C. § 802. The sheriff retained discretion to refuse for "good cause shown" but had to provide a written statement of reasons within seven days, and the applicant could appeal to the chief district court judge.
G.S. 14-409.3 was the parallel statute for counties where the clerk of superior court (rather than the sheriff) issued permits. The substantive requirements were identical.
G.S. 14-415.1 was the Felony Firearms Act. It made it unlawful for a person convicted of one of the offenses listed in subsection (b) to "purchase, own, possess, or have in his custody, care, or control any handgun or other firearm with a barrel length of less than 26 inches, or any weapon of mass death and destruction as defined in G.S. 14-288.8(c)" within five years of conviction or release. The 1984 AG noted that the five-year window was superseded by federal law for federal-disability purposes.
The federal statutes the opinion relied on were 18 U.S.C. App. § 1201 (the underlying disability), 18 U.S.C. App. § 1203(2) (the pardon exception that requires express authorization of firearms possession), and 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) (the Treasury disability-relief mechanism for non-firearms felons). The Fourth Circuit decision in United States v. Glenson Hardin, Jr., 696 F.2d 1078 (4th Cir. 1982) was cited for the application of § 1202.
Common questions
Does waiting out the five-year period in G.S. 14-415.1 clear the way for a permit?
Not on its own, under the 1984 opinion. The state five-year limit might lift the state Felony Firearms Act disability, but the federal disability under 18 U.S.C. App. § 1201 was not time-limited. Without federal disability relief or a pardon, the felon remained disabled even after five years.
What kind of pardon is required for a firearms-use felon?
The 1984 opinion required a presidential pardon (for federal convictions) or a gubernatorial pardon (for state convictions) that "expressly authorizes the possession of firearms." A general pardon that restores civil rights but says nothing specific about firearms is not enough. The pardon document must contain explicit firearms-possession language.
What is the difference between G.S. 14-404 and G.S. 14-409.3?
The two statutes contain identical substantive requirements but designate different issuing officers. G.S. 14-404 makes the sheriff the permit issuer; G.S. 14-409.3 makes the clerk of superior court the permit issuer in counties operating under the alternative scheme.
What was the U.S. Treasury disability-relief procedure?
Under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) as it stood in 1984, a non-firearms felon could apply to the Secretary of the Treasury for relief from federal firearms disabilities. The Secretary could grant relief on a finding that the applicant was not a danger to public safety and that relief would not be contrary to the public interest. Grants were published in the Federal Register. (Funding for processing these applications was suspended by Congress in 1992 and has been suspended ever since; the modern significance of this procedure is limited.)
Does the antitrust/unfair-trade-practices/restraints-of-trade carve-out really exempt those felonies?
Yes. The 1984 statute carved out felonies "pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, or restraints of trade" from the disqualifier. A person convicted of such a felony was eligible for the state permit on the same terms as a non-felon. (The carve-out reflects a congressional and state legislative judgment that those offenses are not violence-related and do not warrant a firearms bar.)
Source
Citations
- N.C.G.S. § 14-404
- N.C.G.S. § 14-409.3
- N.C.G.S. § 14-415.1
- N.C.G.S. § 14-288.8(c)
- 18 U.S.C. App. § 1201
- 18 U.S.C. App. § 1202
- 18 U.S.C. App. § 1203(2)
- 18 U.S.C. § 925(c)
- 21 U.S.C. § 802
- United States v. Glenson Hardin, Jr., 696 F.2d 1078 (4th Cir. 1982)
Original opinion text
Requested By: Sheriff's Department, New Hanover County, Joseph McQueen, Jr., Sheriff
Questions:
(1) Whether a person who has been convicted of a felony is eligible to obtain a handgun permit under G.S. 14-404 or G.S. 14-409.3?
(2) Whether a person who has been convicted of a felony involving the use of a firearm is eligible to obtain a handgun permit under G.S. 14-404; G.S. 14-409.3 and G.S. 14-415.1?
Conclusion:
(1) No, or not until he has obtained relief from the disability imposed by Federal law, form the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury and satisfies the Sheriff or Clerk of the Superior Court that he meets all the requirements of G.S. 14-404; G.S. 14-409.3 and G.S. 14-415.1.
(2) No, or not until he has obtained a Presidential or Gubernatorial pardon, whichever is applicable, which expressly authorizes the possession of firearms and satisfies the Sheriff or Clerk of Court that he meets all the requirements of G.S. 14-404 or G.S. 14-409.3 and G.S. 14-415.1.
The relevant part of cited statutes read:
"G.S. 14-404 Issuance or refusal of permit; appeal from refusal; grounds for refusal; sheriff's fee.
Upon application, the sheriff shall issue such license or permit to a resident of that county unless the purpose of the permit is for collecting, in which case a sheriff can issue a permit to a nonresident when the sheriff shall have fully satisfied himself by affidavits, oral evidence, or otherwise to the good moral character of the applicant therefor, and that such person, firm, or corporation desires the possession of the weapon mentioned for (i) the protection of the home, business, or property; (ii) target shooting, (iii) collecting, or (iv) hunting. If said sheriff shall not be so fully satisfied, he may, for good cause shown, decline to issue said license or permit and shall provide to said applicant within seven days of such refusal a written statement of the (reasons) for such refusal. An appeal from such refusal shall lie by way of petition to the chief judge of the district court for the district in which the application was filed. The determination by the court, on appeal, shall be upon the facts, the law, and the reasonableness of the sheriff's refusal, and shall be final. A permit may not be issued to the following persons: (i) one who is under an indictment or information for or has been convicted in any state, or in any court of the United States, of a felony (other than an offense pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, or restraints of trade), except that if a person has been convicted and later pardoned, he may obtain a permit; (ii) one who is a fugitive from justice; (iii) one who is an unlawful user of or addicted to marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, or narcotic drug (as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 802)." — (G.S. 14-409.3 contains identical language but made applicable to counties where Clerks of Superior Court issue permits).
"G.S. 14-415.1 Possession of firearms, etc. by felon prohibited.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person who has been convicted of any crime set out in subsection (b) of this section to purchase, own, possess, or have in his custody, care, or control any handgun or other firearm with a barrel length of less than 26 inches, or any weapon of mass death and destruction as defined in G.S. 14-288.8(c), within five years from the date of such conviction, or the unconditional discharge from a correctional institute, or termination of a suspended sentence, probation, or parole upon such conviction, whichever is later." [Ch. 13, Citizenship Restored.]
NOTE: The underlined portion of G.S. 14.415.1 set out above is superseded by 18 U.S.C. § 1201; 18 U.S.C. § 1203(2) and 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) hereinafter set out in relevant part.
18 U.S.C. App. § 1201 in relevant part reads:
"(a) Any person who –
(1) has been convicted by a court of the United States or of a State or any political subdivision thereof of a felony, — and who received, possesses, or transports in commerce or affecting commerce after the date of enactment of this Act, any firearm shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than two years, or both. –
18 U.S.C. App. § 1203(2) provides in part that § 1202's proscription shall not apply to "any person who has been pardoned by the President of the United States or the Chief Executive of a State and has expressly been authorized by the President or such Chief Executive, as the case may be, to receive, possess, or transport in commerce a firearm.
18 U.S.C. § 925(c) states:
"(c) A person who has been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year (other than a crime involving the use of a firearm or other weapon or a violation of this chapter or of the National Firearms Act) may make application to the Secretary [of the Treasury] for relief from the disabilities imposed by Federal laws with respect to the acquisition, receipt, transfer, shipment, or possession of firearms and incurred by reason of such conviction, and the Secretary [of the Treasury] may grant such relief if it is established to his satisfaction that the circumstances regarding the conviction, and the applicant's record and reputation, are such that the applicant will not be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that the granting of the relief would not be contrary to the public interest. — Whenever the Secretary [of the Treasury] grants relief to any person pursuant to this section he shall promptly publish in the Federal Register notice of such action, together with the reasons therefor."
NOTE: For application of 18 U.S.C. App. § 1202, see United States of America vs. Glenson Hardin, Jr., 696 F.2d 1078 (4th Cir. 1982).
For a person who has been convicted of a felony which felony involved the use of firearms, the only way to meet the requirements would be by way of a Presidential or Gubernatorial pardon which expressly authorizes the possession of firearms.
Any prior opinion of this office relating to the right of a felon to bear arms which is in conflict herewith is specifically withdrawn.
RUFUS L. EDMISTEN
Attorney General
William W. Melvin
Senior Deputy Attorney General