Fortunately my Rep is one of the sponsors of the bill, so I don't think there's any reason to worry about his vote. But man it just really irks me when groups like that pull out all the stops to protect the status quo just "because". What possible reason is there to keep this system in place? The only people who are going to go through the trouble of getting a permission slip from the sheriff are people who are law abiding anyway. And if something came up to prevent them from getting a purchase permit, it would have come up in the NICS check too. In fact, you could argue that the purchase permit system is actually working against effective background screening because once issued they are good for 5 years, and when presented at a gun store they are taken in lieu of the NICS check. So theoretically you could become a felon in the 5 years after issue, and be able to buy a handgun with your permit because the NICS check is bypassed.
Just a bunch of self-serving, rent-seeking lunacy. It's clearly about the revenues they get from application fees. What do they do in issuing a purchase permit? They probably just run the same basic check that NICS does anyway, then add your $30 to their revenues.