WCSO to move location for gun purchase permits
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on February 16, 2015 1:46 PM
Citing security concerns, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office will no longer be issuing handgun purchase permits out of its annex office at U.S. 117 North Bypass.
Approved permits from now on will only be handed out at the Sheriff's Office headquarters, which is located in downtown Goldsboro at 207 E. Chestnut St.
Applications may still be picked up at both locations.
Maj. Tom Effler said the move did not arise from any particular incident, but it is seen as a preventive safety measure.
"Nothing has happened. It is just that most of our investigations are run out of the annex," he said.
The concern is that witnesses and sometimes suspects being brought in during the course of those investigations will run into members of the public coming to the annex for permits.
This could lead to people being identified or perhaps misidentified, jeopardizing their personal safety and the integrity of an ongoing investigation.
By limiting the public's access to the annex, the hope is to cut down on the likelihood of these types of incidents.
"We're trying to make security a little better, both for the public and for us," Effler said.