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Is that a requirement for the buyer, for the seller, or both? Does NC allow private, face-to-face sales? If so, is it a requirement for private sellers to verify that the buyer has a pistol purchase permit?
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It is a requirement that the buyer of a pistol in NC to have a pistol purchase permit. If you sell a pistol to a buyer without this, it is a misdemeanor. The seller does not need one, just to see that the buyer has one. Face to Face sales are legal, and the permit is only required for a pistol. The few rifles I've sold all I did was verify they were NC residents and hand write a bill of sale (I've found that buyers usually want one anyway).
Interestingly enough, I believe the "pistol purchase permit" law in NC to be a Jim Crow artifact. It was first enacted in 1919 and has been tweaked many times through the years. It requires local sheriffs to conduct a background check on the county resident and issue a permit before they take possession of a handgun. In 1919, I'm pretty sure it was all but designed to exclude African Americans from pistol ownership. Members of the state legislature have tried to repeal it in recent years, and they have cited references to it being a Jim Crow law.
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But if I bought it through an FFL or any other avenue that left a paper trail leading to me, then it's only reasonable that I also want a paper trail leading away from me if/when I sell a gun that I bought on-paper. Bills of sale are not unbiased. I can make up a bill of sale in a fictitious name, and sign a fictitious signature. IMHO a bill of sale that I created proves nothing. If I want a paper trail to verify that I sold that gun, I'm better of handing it over to an FFL, who will enter it into his bound book, for consignment sale.
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AB I basically feel the same way you do. But as you said, the world we live in is what it is. I can do private FTF sales in NC. I do on the rare occasion that I sell a firearm. I do want that "paper trail" as you say so if something happens and the ATF knocks on my door I can indicate that I don't own said firearm anymore. I am satisfied with a bill of sale so long as I see the ID of the buyer. I understand fake IDs can be produced, but it is getting harder to do. Even if it were to occur, the ATF might look at me funny but I did my due diligence. They can throw me on a polygraph for all I care. I can't be charged with a crime for abiding by the minimum standard of the law.