Coins and Stuff in High Point, N.C., is getting out of the gun business after 40 years because the owner says state paperwork has made it no longer profitable for the store to sell guns.

“In my situation, it’s a whole lot easier to sell jewelry and ammo than it is trying to sell a gun,” owner Jim Greene told WGHP. “It’s just too time-consuming. It’s just not worth it to me.”

Greene began selling guns back in 1980, but he says North Carolina’s pistol-purchase permit combined with the federal background-check system and the recent surge in gun sales has made the situation untenable.

“It wasn’t much of a hassle back then,” he told the news station. “I don’t want the hassle.”

North Carolina is one of only 10 states that require a special permit just to purchase a pistol. The law came under scrutiny in 2020 after Wake County sheriff Gerald Baker (D.) refused to process new pistol purchases during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. He was sued over the shutdown of processing and forced to reopen the process.

Greene said the slowdown in processing state permits and federal background checks over recent months has become too much for him to keep firearms sales going. Now, he said, the process can take weeks to complete. That combined with the cost of properly securing guns and insuring the business just added up to too much for him.

“It’s not just walking in and buying a gun,” he said. “Oh, no, forget that.”