The concealed carry permits process is about to open up in Guilford County.

On Friday, May 29, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department announced that it will resume accepting and processing new concealed carry permits starting on Monday, June 1.

County residents who submitted applications for new permits before March 25 – and who had their fingerprinting appointments already scheduled but then canceled – will receive top priority after the process opens back up next week.

The department is sending notifications to each of the people who were already in line for that step.

For the past two months, the concealed carry permit service – like just about everything else in society – has been shut down. In late March, the department announced that it would temporarily suspend the processing of issuing new concealed carry handgun permits. However, the department did continue to process renewals and issue pistol purchase permits.

The service was halted because the fingerprinting of applicants —a legally required step in the concealed carry permits process – would have meant close physical contact between the Sheriff’s Department employee and the person getting fingerprinted.

In a May 29 press release announcing the resumption of the service, the Sheriff’s Department noted that, when the department stopped taking fingerprints in March, it did so in part due to the lack of adequate personal protective equipment.

After those in line to be fingerprinted are taken care of, the next priority for the Sheriff’s Department will be those people who’d submitted applications for new concealed carry permits before March 25, but who hadn’t yet been scheduled for fingerprinting.

According to department officials, anyone interested in applying for a new concealed carry permit can do so starting on June 1. They can apply online at https://guilfordso.permitium.com/ccw/application?permittype=new, or, they can apply at one of the computer kiosks in the Sheriff’s Firearm Permit Office on the lower ground level of the Guilford Courthouse in Greensboro.

There have been some changes to the process due to the pandemic. For instance:

  • Fingerprinting will take place only on Mondays and Thursdays
  • New applications will be processed in person on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
  • No more than 10 people will be permitted in the lobby at any one time
  • Some seats in the waiting area will be taped off to ensure safe social-distancing
  • Sheriff’s employees will be provided with masks, gloves and goggles
  • Applicants must wear a mask or other form of protective facial covering.

And last but not least…

  • Applicants being fingerprinted must first use a hand-sanitizing station that will be available.