Hold the phone! I am a resident of North Carolina and unless you live in one of the weird counties, you can go to the local sheriffs office and apply for a pistol purchase permit as I did (I have 3 left and they are good for 4 more years). My son and his wife are still waiting on their CCW renewal from April of this year! So, it takes, in my opinion, way longer than a month to even get a CCW the first time or a renewal from what I have seen. And like most veterans if you have been stuck with a PTSD stigma (I am a Nam vet, I was a Navy corpsman assigned to Marine units my whole 4 years) you can expect a year wait for even an answer of approval or disapproval.