Bob Halbert said the last time he checked, it was not against the law for law-abiding citizens to own a gun. But he said he felt like a criminal when he went to buy a gun permit and had to stand in the same line as convicted sex offenders.

Halbert, 46, said when he got in line in the lobby of the new Pasquotank Public Service Building he noticed a sign that read, "Gun permits/Sex offender registration." He said he was humiliated when he realized that he and other law-abiding gun owners had to stand in the same line as sex offenders who came to the building to register with the county.

"I feel they're putting me or a person coming in for a gun permit in the same category as sex offenders," said Halbert, a retired Navy officer. "If someone comes by who knows you and sees you all it takes is one bad rumor and bam, you're marked for life."

Halbert, who lives in Newland, said he is concerned that other gun owners may experience the same embarrassment as he did when purchasing a gun permit.

"A close friend of mine's son recently visited us after his return home from Iraq, where he served for 15 months as a military policeman," Halbert said. "And yes, he did put himself in harm's way as I did numerous times in my career ... with 26 years of honorable service to this great country of ours. But in Elizabeth City, we are grouped with sex offenders if we want to apply for a gun permit."

Pasquotank Sheriff Randy Cartwright said Halbert's complaint was the first he's heard about the sign since the new public safety building opened last summer. The sign was incorporated into the building architect's plans from the outset, and that the same sign is commonly used in other public safety buildings, Cartwright said.

"You've got to direct them to a window," Cartwright said. "It's just a sign. It doesn't mean you're a sex offender."

Halbert's not sure how the problem could be resolved.

"The sheriff's department may want to re-think their grouping of law-abiding citizens with sex offenders," he said. "After all, the last I knew owning a gun is not a criminal act."

Cartwright said he'll bring it to the attention of the Pasquotank County commissioners, "if (the sign) gets to be an issue."

"I don't know where (else) we would put it," he said.