hey all, I've been a member of this site for awhile, just got done with basic, ait and jump school. I'm gonna be stationed at Ft Bragg, anyone got any info on it and the surrounding area for me?
Gun laws, places to see, stuff to do, etc?

I'm from commiefornia so any info on the gun laws and stuff in NC would be great since its gonna be my new home for awhile till I goto Iraq... Till then if it's legal to do so there I can finally start on my evil black rifle collection
thanks!

No rifle or shotty restrictions apart from the Federal ones.  You can buy a long arm with nothing more than driver license (+ 4473 and NICS.)

Handguns are more of a problem.  There is no restriction on the ownership of pistols, no registration or special licenses.  What is regulated is purchase.  To buy a handgun, you go to the county sheriff's office and fillout a handgun purchase permit form.  They do a background check.  A week or two later you go back to the sheriff's office, and get one or more purchase permits for $5 each.  County sheriff's set the number you can get, usually from 2 to 5.  Purchase permits are good for 2 years from the time you get them. With your handgun purchase permit in hand, you can walk into any gun shop and buy a handgun.  Its a pain in the neck, and takes some of the fun out of it.  But nothing like MA, CA, MD or NY.

Fort Bragg is located in Fayetteville, known to most folks as "FayetteNam."  Its not a great place.  NC in general is beautiful, with outstanding beaches and many, many lakes and rivers. Every town has one or more impoundment lake (created to control flooding.)  The Blue Ridge mountains have six of the highest peaks on the east coast.  The western part of the state is my favorite.  Beautiful rolling hills, farmland, woods, little towns.  Eastern part of the state is flat and flood-prone, but has the best deer hunting.  Nearly every square foot of NC is owned by somebody, so shooting must be at a range (no public ranges.)

Ed's Guns in Vass is a pretty good gun store in the Fayetteville area.  Del-Ton is nearby, but they don't have a store.  If you get up to Raleigh, Davi's Guns is good.  If you drive directly north on NC 87 you'll hit I-40, and you'll be not too far from Mace Sports (used to be The Gun Room.)  Avoid pawn shops.  They are everywhere and will suck you dry.

Send IM if you need more.

Hope this helps.

C_M

Welcome to NC.  Can't really add much to what Carbine_Man said.  I think you'll like it here.  Ed's Gun Shop is definitely the place to go.  They are good guys and have the best prices.  There is also a place in Fayetteville called Jim's Gun Jobbery.  It is a pawn/gun shop.  They have a great selection, and a real nice indoor range, but their prices suck, and most people who work there seem like jackasses.  Enjoy your new freedoms now that you have escaped from Kalifornia.    

If I were you I'd drop by professionalsoldiers.com,  it's run by SF guys either at or from Bragg.  They'll tell you whatever you want to konw about the area.  All I can say is if you are flying over or near it, watch out for flying telephone poles.....

crashburnrepeat

NC is a beautiful place and wonderful state for the outdoorsman, great beaches in the east and the prettiest mountains in the world in the west. Generally good people.

Fort Bragg has nice mild winters but it also has miserable summers with oppressive heat and high humidity, during the worst part of the summer just walking to the car in the morning can make you feel like you have been dipped in a bucket of warm spit.  

Again, Ed's Guns in Vass is a top notch guy, with great prices.  

Mace Sports is a little far from Fayettnam, its between Chapel Hill and Burlington.  There are several nice gun stores in Raleigh though.

Not to be an ass, but "This license or permit expires FIVE years from its date of issuance." That's a quote off the one that's on my desk, pertaining to handgun permits.  You can also get up to 10 at one time.  I got 4 last time, not even planning on using one.  If you have one, you can show it when you buy a gun and bypass the NICS system.  So if you're at a gun show and NICS is down, everyone else is standing in line waiting on the call to the FBI and you just flash the permit.  If your sherriff's office says otherwise, go look up the law and refer them to it, or the county commissioners.  Some counties try and only give you one year, or try and take more than 30 days to issue it, or say you can only get
so many at a time and give you all sorts of run around.    

I have been to the gun shows in Fayettville a lot lately, and they're pretty good, Raleigh has a bigger show though.  

The skeet and trap ranges on Fort Bragg are the 2nd best I've ever been to, although since Uncle Sam paid for them you can see he cut no corners.  

There are also lots of, umm, "interesting" people who may or may not operate within the bounds of the law in Fayetteville/Bragg Boulevard.  I'm sure you're well aware of all these types though.

Concealed carry is legal. A permit is required. You need to pass an approved gun safety course first.

Upcoming gun shows in Fayetteville:

www.cegunshows.com/fayetteville.htm

Also, you may have to have character witnesses for your pistol permits.

Where I'm from, this means thier name and telephone #.  

Some places, like Durham and Orange Co., you have to have them come to the police station and make a notarized statement (big PITA).