North Carolina is one of those states where the Second Amendment’s standing should be cut and dry. It’s not entirely that easy. People from the Tar Heel State have been plagued by remnants of Jim Crow era laws. Grass Roots North Carolina is an organization that’s been battling to see to the repeal of unconstitutional and often racist laws. Recently, it was leaked that GRNC may have reached an agreement with the Sheriff from the N.C. county with the second largest population, and a consent decree followed.

In 2023 North Carolinaians celebrated the repeal of a different Jim Crow era gun law. North Carolina used to have a pistol purchase permitting law in place. Critics of the law pointed towards permitting abuse. Often, such permitting laws subvert the ability for people to be able to procure handguns via unnecessary delays and other tactics to chill the right. The law was repealed by the legislative bodies overriding Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.

North Carolina remains the last viable state that will willingly enter into the fold of permitless carry states. However, there has not been much movement or appetite on that topic from the legislative bodies. Currently the bodies hold veto-proof conservative super majorities.

Considering there’s still a permitting process for the carry of arms in the state, there’s continued to be abuse in the manner of which they’re issued. GRNC has been involved in litigation with Sheriff McFadden from Mecklenburg County over delays since 2022.

“In recent days, a press release from the Mecklenburg County Sheriffs’ Office (MCSO) has caused Charlotte news media to prematurely report a settlement in the lawsuit filed by Grass Roots North Carolina, Gun Owners of America, and individual plaintiffs against Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden,” a release from GRNC stated.

The September 2nd notice explained that “per advice from GRNC’s legal team, we have so far refrained from giving details of the settlement” however, the group was moved to discuss the preliminary talks. “Given MCSO’s public statement adding ‘spin’ to McFadden’s defeat, however, GRNC is compelled to tell the truth about what has been tentatively agreed to by the parties.”

GRNC stated:

At issue are what appear to be intentional delays in issuing concealed handgun permits (CHPs) by McFadden, who previously sent mental health record requests to the Veteran’s Administration for all permit applicants, regardless of whether they served in the military, flooding the VA with paperwork in order to create delays in permits.

This is the second lawsuit GRNC and GOA have filed against McFadden over permit delays. Between the two suits, GRNC and GOA have ended McFadden’s gun permit delays in the following ways:

• Repealing NC’s Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permit law, used by urban sheriffs to delay handgun purchases;
• Ending the MCSO practice of requiring CHP applicants to schedule appointments, often months ahead, to apply;
• Ending the practice of sending mental health records requests to the VA for all applicants;

• Requiring the sheriff to make mental health record requests only for applicants who have previously sought mental health treatment (tentative); and
• Paying $5,000 toward damages and legal fees suffered by the plaintiffs (tentative).

A few days following that, there was more news on the lawsuit. A official consent decree was filed on September 4, 2024 and states that McFadden agreed to the following:

That the Sheriff shall issue or deny all concealed handgun permit applications within 45 days of receipt of those items listed in N.C. GEN. STAT. § 14-415.13(a), a response from the National Instant Criminal Background System (“NICS”) and the Administrative Office of the Courts, and receipt of any mental health records from doctors, hospitals or other providers, listed in an applicant’s AOC form SP-914; and 

That the Sheriff may seek mental health records regarding any applicant only if that applicant indicates (i) that he or she has sought treatment for mental health at a provider which has been listed by the applicant on AOC form SP-914, or (ii) has answered yes to the question “Are you currently or have you been previously adjudicated or administratively determined to be lacking mental capacity or mentally ill,” or (iii) has answered “yes” to the question “Are you an unlawful user of (or addicted to) marijuana, alcohol, or any depressant, stimulant or narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance as defined in 21 U.S.C. 802” on the concealed handgun permit application; and

That, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 only, Plaintiffs shall be considered “prevailing parties" for purposes of attorneys’ fees. Other than set forth below, each side shall bear their own costs and fees. Defendant agrees to pay $5,000 in attorneys’ fees to Plaintiffs, and to pay Plaintiffs’ portion of the mediation fee.

The decree ended with the court’s order, stating that “IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT Defendant Sheriff Gary McFadden, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Mecklenburg County, shall issue or deny all concealed handgun permit applications within 45 days of receipt of those items listed in N.C. GEN. STAT. § 14-415.13(a), a response from NICS and the Administrative Office of the Courts, and receipt of any mental health records from doctors, hospitals, or other providers listed in an applicant’s AOC-SP914…”

The remainder of the order states that McFadden is to be beholden to the laws concerning mental health checks, as was previously pointed out by GRNC’s release, and discussed the matter of the damages.

Regardless of however McFadden wants to spin the agreement, this is a win for the people of Mecklenburg County North Carolina. Mecklenburg County Sheriff keeps popping up in coverage involving the subversion of gun rights, and hopefully this ding to his record/ego will finally put to bed his slow rolling of permits.

Congratulations to Grass Roots North Carolina, Gun Owners of America, et.al. for this monumental win. Now we’ll sit back and see if McFadden is a man of his word, or if we’ll be covering new and innovative antics in the future. Let’s hope that the latter ends up not being the case.