North Carolina has had a Democrat governor for quite a few years. Also the Tarheels tend to send Democrats to congress, however with that being said, the Democrats out of the Tarheel state tend to be on the conservative side, or Blue Dogs as they are sometimes called. (Not to be confused with sheepdogs.)
Back to the OP's question. NC has an odd permit to purchace requirement for handguns. If you want to buy a handgun you need to get a "mother-may-I" permission slip from the local LEO, however you are expemt from this requirement if you hold a NC CCW permit. So this would be another reason to get the NC CCW.
To give a little background to the history of Democrats running the state of NC, this goes back to the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot, which was the only successful coup d'etat in US history! After the civil war, Republicans were in charge of the state government, many if not mostly freed blacks. This didn't sit well with the Democrats, who lynched, shot and ran off the entire sitting gov't, an took over at gunpoint. Inspired by Josephus Daniels, editor of the News and Observer (yes, THAT N&O!), the coup took over the government for Democrats for over 125 years, right up to the 2010 election!
As such, most of the laws, including the gun laws, have followed the Democratic 'Mother may I' format, till recently. The changes to reinforce the 'Castle Doctrine', and to allow firearms possession in state parks, as well as revisions to conceal carry laws, are all as a result of having FINALLY thrown off the yoke of Democrats.
Just FYI... if you're interested in knowing more, check out the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot on the web, and be sure and catch the N&O's apology. OBTW, Josephus Daniels was key to the election of FDR, a close personal friend to him, and served as Secretary of the Navy under Woodrow Wilson, whose policy served also to lead to our involvement in WWII vs the Japanese.
Josephus Daniels - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia